


Outside In

by moviefan_92



Category: Inside Out (2015)
Genre: Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Anger, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Romance, Attempt at Humor, Awkward Romance, Best Friends, Break Up, Breaking Up & Making Up, Comedy, Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Declarations Of Love, Delusions, Depression, Developing Friendships, Disney References, Dorks in Love, Drama, Drama & Romance, Dysfunctional Family, Easter Eggs, Emotional, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Epic Friendship, Established Relationship, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Family, Family Bonding, Family Drama, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Family Issues, Family Secrets, Fear, Female Friendship, First Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fluffy Ending, Friends to Enemies, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Heartbreak, Humor, Humorous Ending, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Imaginary Friends, Imagination, Inappropriate Humor, Joyful, Love, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Mental Breakdown, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mind Control, Mind Games, Mind/Mood Altering Substances, OT5 Friendship, Obsession, Obsessive Behavior, One-Sided Relationship, Planning Adventures, Post-Break Up, Psychological Drama, Puberty, Relationship(s), Romance, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Friendship, Sad, Some Humor, Team as Family, Teen Romance, Teenage Drama, Tragic Romance, True Love, Unhealthy Relationships, Unrequited Love, Unresolved Emotional Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 16:37:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 45,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17267612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moviefan_92/pseuds/moviefan_92
Summary: Post Riley's First Date.Riley and Jordan are boyfriend and girlfriend, but now their relationship is getting more serious. In their inexperience, the Emotions are not entirely sure how to handle the situation, so they look to someone else for help. However, problems arise when a rogue imaginary character is tired of being forgotten and ignored. They take over Headquarters with the intent of sabotaging Riley's relationship, and kicking out her Emotions. Now lost in the maze of Riley's mind, Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, and Fear must put their differences aside and work together if they want to reclaim Headquarters and save Riley's relationship. And what's this? New Emotions?Adventure/Drama/Romance/Humor/Friendship/Family/Hurt & Comfort. Pairings: Riley and Jordan, OC and Riley (one-sided).STORY COMPLETE





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> (A/N: A new story has begun, involving he inner workings of the mind. I was pleasantly surprised with "Inside Out", and, like many, saw the potential sequel setup with the 'PUBERTY' button at the end. That's where this baby comes from. It was intended to be a short one-shot, but the plot bunnies got busy, and what was meant to be a one-shot became the prologue of something much bigger. Hope you enjoy it.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Originally posted on 01/28/16 - 08/05/16 at: _<https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11758419/1/Outside-In>_**

 

 

**" OUTSIDE IN"**

**Prologue**

Disgust was on dream duty tonight. She really hated it since there wasn't much to do with no feelings to convey. While the other four Emotions slept, she was stuck watching the dreams of the 12 year old they were inhabiting.

"Uch, there is nothing on," she grumbled as she filed her nails at the control panel.

Up on the dream screen, Dream Productions was providing a much more traumatizing version of what happened earlier today when Jordan came to pick Riley up for their date. Only instead of her father pretending to be in a band in front of Jordan in the kitchen, he was doing it in front of the entire hockey team while her mother acted like a crazed fan-girl. Riley was present too, and yes, she had no pants on again.

"Please," Disgust muttered, "as if her parents aren't embarrassing enough in real life. Honestly, why do they do that? What are their Fear and Disgust doing?"

There was just no understanding parents. And how was she supposed to do her job of keeping Riley socially accepted if her own parents insisted on humiliating her all the time? True, they meant well, but did they ever think before they acted?

"As if we'd ever let Riley do that to her kids," Disgust told herself.

With a sigh, she sat back, putting her feet up on the control panel, careful of the buttons, even if most of them didn't work while Riley was asleep. She was so bored. Perhaps she could find a memory that was more appealing than what was playing. With that, she hit the Memory Recall button, and a glowing yellow orb popped out of the recall tube and began playing.

" _TripleDent Gum, will make you smile! TripleDent Gum, it lasts a while-"_

"Not that!" Disgust shouted, and slammed her fist down on the button to send the memory back.

That had not been the kind of memory she had been looking for. Why wasn't there a memory delete button? The control panel had one for everything else! And being one of Riley's Emotions, Disgust knew what each and every one did.

Well, except for  _that_  one. That big red button labeled  _PUBERTY_. It had come with the new control panel, and neither she nor any of the other Emotions knew what it did. It wasn't in any of the manuals either.

Disgust had to admit, she was curious. All the Emotions were. They had considered pressing it several times to see what would happen, but Fear always convinced them that it was too risky. But he wasn't here now, so…

She glanced left, glanced right, glanced at the button, and slowly reached out and pressed it. It sank into the control panel and remained embedded in there. An alarm sounded as red lights began flashing. A loud static-filled mechanical voice began chanting,  _"Puberty! Puberty!"_

It didn't take long for the other Emotions to wake up and come rushing into the room. Fear as wrapped around Anger, shaking like a leaf as he looked around fearfully. "What is it? What's happening? Are we going to die?"

"Get off me!" Anger snapped, his head igniting, and Fear jumped off him, his rear end smoking.

"Why's the alarm sounding?" Sadness asked sleepily.

Joy's eyes landed on the pressed button labeled  _PUBERTY_. She put the word they had mispronounced as "Pooburty" and the word the alarm was blaring together and came to a conclusion. "Disgust, you hit the button?"

"She hit the button?" Fear asked. He saw that Joy was right and panicked. "You hit the button! She actually hit the button!" He grabbed the green Emotion and began shaking her. "Why did you hit the button!?"

She slapped his hand away and crossed her arms. "Hey, don't blame me, ok. I told you I wasn't in the mood for dream duty tonight."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: There's the prologue for you. Short, I know, but it's a prologue, most are. The other chapters will be longer. I try to update every Wednesday, so if you're interested in seeing where this is going, I hope to see you then. Leave me a review to tell me what you think, and I'll catch you next time.)


	2. Puberty Days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Ok, cool, this story gained some attention. Just so you know, if you haven't seen the short "Riley's First Date", you may be a little confuse, so I recommended seeing that first; it's only like 5 minutes. This chapter is from Joy's point of view. The rest of the story won't be liked that though, just this one. I'm not too found of point of view stories, but that's just me. I felt it worked well this time though, so, here we go.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Chapter 1: Puberty Days**

Oh, hi! Ha, ha. Sorry about last chapter. Things got a liiiiittle crazy. I would have explained things sooner, but we've been working overtime ever since Disgust hit that button.

So, in case you didn't know, I'm Joy. Yes,  _thee_  Joy. No, not your Joy. I belong to Riley Anderson. Hmm, you don't know Riley? That's weird, we're in her head right now after all.

Well, let me fill you in on a few things. This, all around you, is Riley. She's 13 now, meaning she's going through a looooot of changes, both physically and emotionally. That means that me and the others have been really busy.

Hmm, what others? Why, Riley's other Emotions of course. We're physical manifestations of her feelings. I thought I explained all this when I told you about Riley's move to San Francisco. Uch, did your mind workers throw away your memories of that time?  _Sigh_. Ok, I'll give you a quick recap just in case those memories have only faded but are still in there somewhere.

As I said, I'm Joy, one of Riley's Emotions. As such, it's my job to make Riley feel happy. The same goes for Anger, who makes Riley feel angry, Fear, who makes her feel afraid, and the same goes for Disgust and Sadness.

Oh, speaking of Sadness, the two of us aren't at odd's ends anymore. You see, the five of us are meant to make sure Riley lives a good life. As such, I really didn't see the need for Sadness. While each Emotion makes Riley feel something different, our goal is mostly to make her happy. Therefore, I didn't see the need for Sadness since she's the opposite of happy and seemed to be hindering our goal.

But I learned that there are times when a person needs to feel sad in order to get through and move on from certain things in your life so you can feel happy again afterwards, because bottling things up really doesn't work so well since those thoughts never leave you. So, yay, we're a team!

Huh? Why are two of Riley's Emotions boys? Huh, I never really thought abut it before. I guess it's because Riley's a bit of a tomboy. You ever see this girl play hockey? She's amaaaaazing. So, yeah, some of us manifested as boys. It's not weird or anything, it just means Riley's not super girly or anything. And we all love her exactly the way she is.

What? You think we control Riley like she's some kind of robot or puppet. Ha! No, no, that's ridiculous. You're funny. No, Riley's the one in control. We make her feel things based on situations, but she's the one that makes the decisions. I mean, sure, we can put ideas in her head, but she's the one that chooses to act on them and such. The same goes for us Emotions. We make her feel a certain way, she decides what to do with those feelings. And as we learned from the time Riley almost ran away, only certain Emotions can get ideas out of her head.

And, of course, there's her personality that manifests into the various Islands just outside of Headquarters. We have nothing to do with those. So you see, we don't actually control Riley. She can still function without us; she just wouldn't feel anything, and would live a very dull life. So… yeah…

Aaaaaaanway, I mentioned Riley's Islands of Personality. These are created from Core Memories from important moments in her life. Without them, she would have no personality, a bit of a blank slate if you will, almost acting on instinct alone. That'd be very dull and depressing.

But as you can see, we have our fair share of Islands, even more than the last time you were here. In fact, even the older ones have expanded and improved, because now they have more Emotions powering them. As I learned from my little adventure with Sadness, memories can bring forth more than one type of feeling. This was why Sadness felt compelled to turn certain memories sad. Yup, it was a confusing time for us all, but we've finally got things under control.

Or as close to under control as can be. Ever since Disgust pushed the  _PUBERTY_  button, things have gotten a little crazy. And get this, after she pushed that button, this hidden compartment on the control panel opened to reveal another one, this one's labeled  _MENOPAUSE_. We have no idea what it does, but after all the trouble  _PUBERTY_  has given us, we won't be pushy this new one any time soon. Maybe when Riley is about 50 we'll see what it does.

Whatever  _PUBERTY_  triggered, it's been causing a lot of changes in Riley. Yeah, I know I said that already, but it's true. And hormones are definitely flying. Clouds of it come in through the air ducts, and when we Emotions end up breathing it in, we get a little crazy at the control panel, especially Anger and Disgust; mostly Anger.

But that doesn't mean things are bad. On the contrary, things are great! Our little Riley is growing up, and we're so proud of her. She's doing well in school, she's a valuable member of her hockey team, and she's got wonderful new friends. Oh, and get this, our Riley has a boyfriend! That's right, a boyfriend. I'm very excited about it, and have certainly been busy at the controls whenever she's with him. Anger, Fear, and Disgust have been too, but usually only when Mom and Dad try to get involved with her relationship.

Huh? Who is it? Oh, his name is Jordan. He and Riley first met at one of her hockey games when she accidentally bumped into him. Turns out his sister is on Riley's hockey team. The two of them hung out together and eventually started dating. And let me tell you, when Jordan came to pick Riley up for their first date, it was aaaaawkward. Her parents were all over her about it. Disgust certainly had a field day at the controls.

First, Mom tried talking in modern day children slang. She actually used phrases like "awesome sauce" and "fo sheezy". Yeah, it was really weird, but nowhere near as bad as realizing that she had left Dad alone with Jordan. When we realized that, I don't think I've ever seen Fear so freaked out before.

Fortunately, there was nothing to worry about. Dad didn't get all super protective and give Jordan the boot like Fear thought he would. Unfortunately, Jordan must have mentioned how he was in a band, which in turn sent Dad on a trip down memory lane to when he was in a band. When Riley found them together, they were rocking around the kitchen. And let me tell you, Riley may be into the whole teen boy band thing, but  _that_  was kind of creepy.

So, the date went well, but once Riley got back, things got really… weird. The good news is that both Mom and Dad love Jordan. The bad news is that they decided that this meant it was time for her to have The Talk _._  Now  _that_  was awkward. Fear and Disgust were at the control panel the entire time while the rest of us just stared with our mouths hanging open. Fear actually passed out before it was over. And just like that, Riley was traumatized for life, and the mind workers tore down the stork employed baby factory in the sky that was located in Imagination Land.

On a more appealing note, ever since Jordan and Riley became official, we got a new Island. Yup, you guessed it, Romance Island, and it's one of my favorites. The Core Memory for this one is actually all five colors because, let me tell you, being in love is joyful, heartbreaking, aggravating, frightening, and awkward. So all five of us play an important role, although it  _is_ mostly yellow, as are most of Riley's memories pertaining to Jordan, not to brag.

So, as you can see, things are going great. Riley's been living in San Francisco for about two years now. She still keeps in touch with her friends back in Minnesota, but she has great ones here too. Her relationship with her parents, while a little strained due to her hormonal mood swings, is just as good as before. And, of course, her love life with Jordan is flourishing. They've been together for almost a year now, but have only recently become official. And though they're young, we don't see any end in sight.

They still have yet to kiss though, and I am  _super_  excited for that. Fear's afraid that Riley's new braces are going to get in the way though. What, I didn't mention that? Yeah, Riley ended up getting braces. Disgust was very upset about that. But it's only for two years, and it'll be worth it in the end. Just like when we moved, we've got to get through the bad and tough times to make it to the good times. Sometimes that means that you can't always be happy all the time. It wasn't easy, but I've learned to accept that. But that's ok, because sometimes you need to feel sad, or angry, or whatever. It helps you deal with and get through your problems so you can be happy again afterwards.

Yup, things are great, and they're only going to get better. Just wait and see. Nothing is going to go wrong.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Things were horrible. So much had changed, and they were not happy about it. Ever since the move two years ago, nothing was the same. The memories came in to Long Term with no traces of Riley's old life in Minnesota, the Islands of Personality multiplied so much that they no longer knew their way around them, and different parts of Imagination Land, their home, were being destroyed while new ones were created as Riley grew and matured.

They didn't like these changes, but it was the third one that was the real problem. Having come from Riley's imagination meant that they would change with it. Or worse, be left behind. And as Riley grew up and moved on from her childhood, she was leaving many things behind, including them. And that which Riley stopped paying attention to and caring about began to fade. So in order to make room for newer things, the mind workers tossed them into the Memory Dump to be forgotten.

Well, that wouldn't happen to them. They wouldn't be forgotten, not like that pink cotton candy idiot, Bing Bong. They were more important, more meaningful than that toddler-invented imaginary friend. Riley needed them, and they needed Riley. Only they could make her happy.

So they came up with a plan, a plan to make Riley remember them, and to only think about them and them alone. It wouldn't be easy, and would require a lot of planning and patience, but it would be worth it in the end. Riley would belong to them, and they would be her everything. Nothing would come between the two of them.

"Wait for me, Riley. Soon you will be all mine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Ok, I know most of it was a recap, but I also threw in some original stuff. I also tried to explain things from my understanding since it seemed like a lot of people were confused by the movie, from why some of Riley's Emotions were boys, to why she needed to feel sad, etc. We also got to meet the villain towards the end. Kind of. As great as the movie was, it lacked a villain. Not saying it needed one, but I saw the potential for one if a sequel was ever made. The actual story itself will start next chapter, which will be longer than this one. I hope you're looking forward to it. Until next time.)


	3. An Emotional Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: The next chapter is here, and yes, the title is a pun. But before we get started, I got something to say; Easter Eggs ahoy! If you don't know what Easter Eggs are, they're little things that connect different movies together, like Sebastian from "The Little Mermaid" appearing in "Aladdin". It's called the Grand Disney Unification Theory, where all the Disney movies are connected in some way to make them a part of the same universe. See if you can spot them all, and enjoy the chapter.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Chapter 2: An Emotional Date**

It was just a small time band that started out in his parents' garage, but they were big for what they were. They managed to get some gigs at birthday parties and a few other small events, but the odds of the five members of the band known as  _The Players_  actually going anywhere was slim to none.

It was most likely just a common phase that lots of boys went through growing up. The important thing was that they were having fun with their friends. And even those that weren't in the band enjoyed their music.

Riley was one of them, and not just because Jordan was her boyfriend. True, they weren't the Jonas Brothers or anything, but she still liked the way they played. Jordan was the bass guitar player of the group, and she loved to watch him rock out on stage. And just as she came to all her hockey games, she came to all his music gigs. Today, however, was just a rehearsal. She and Jordan were going to see the movie  _The Good Dinosaur_  afterwards, so she was waiting for his band to wrap up.

"What do you guys think about that one?" the drummer asked his fellow band mates as they finished playing their newest song.

"I don't know," the boy playing the trumpet replied. "I just wasn't really feeling it."

"Yeah, it seemed to be missing something," Jordan agreed. He looked to his girlfriend. "What do you think, Riley?"

She held up her hands. "Don't look at me. My talent lies in the skating rink. You guys are the music talent."

The singer of the group scoffed. "Of course she wouldn't know; she's a girl."

Inside Riley's head, Anger sprung into action at the control panel. "What? You think girls don't have any musical talent? Haven't you ever heard of The Spice Girls, Cascada, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez? Need I go on?"

Joy placed a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down. Maybe he just meant for their group. They are a  _boy_  band after all."

Disgust rolled her eyes. "Please. Girls are their target audience. They would be wise to take advise from one."

"Don't freak out! Don't freak out!" Fear cried. "They're Jordan's friends! We don't want to get them angry and cause diversity between them and get us and risk Jordan breaking up with us and end up spending the rest of our lives alone with nothing but a bunch of cats to keep us company!"

"Oh, that's awful," Sadness muttered, looking at the floor.

Joy waved her arms. "Guys, guys, whoa, calm down, that's not going to happen. Now come on, lets not let one mean comment brought on by stress get to us."

She pushed a button, triggering Riley's response. "Well, I could ask my dad for some advice. He was in a band once."

The boy just scoffed. "As if your old man could offer any good advice."

"Oh, I got some good advice for you," Anger snapped.

"Be gentle," Fear begged.

"And add some sarcasm," Disgust suggested.

"Fine," Anger replied irritably, "lets see how this works."

Riley scowled at the boy. "Well excuse me for trying to help."

"We don't need help from a girl."

Anger began grinding his teeth together as his head threatened to ignite. "That does it! I'm using that curse word."

"Wait, look," said Joy, pointing to the screen.

Jordon had shoved the rude boy. "Lay off, man."

The boy glared at him. "We don't need your girlfriend poking her nose in our business. If she's going to come to our practices, she needs to keep her mouth shut unless she's going to cheer."

"Oh no," said Disgust, "he did  _not_  go there."

The boy on the drums struck the cymbals, drawing everyone's attention. "I think we should call it quits for today. We've been at it for a while now."

Jordan put down his guitar. "I think so too. Besides, Riley and I have a movie to get to."

The rude boy scowled as Jordan went to her side. "Fine, go! Have fun on your date!"

They ignored him as they left the garage. Jordan looked a little uncomfortable as he glanced back at his friend's garage. "Sorry about Nathan. He was being a real jerk."

"Uch, yeah, like him apologizing for Mr. Creep-o makes it all better," Disgust muttered.

"Hey now," said Joy, "we all get stressed out. Remember how frustrating hockey practice can get."

"It's fine," Riley replied. "But you guys really do sound good."

Jordan smiled. "Thanks. It's just this new song; it's giving us some real trouble."

"Well, I'm sure you'll get it. You guys have some real musical talent."

Just outside Headquarters, Teenage Boy Band Island was running. Joy smiled at that. She didn't care if Fear hoped it was a phase, she liked all the Islands. As far as she was concerned, anything that made Riley happy was a good thing.

As the two teens walked along, the conversation turned to Riley's hockey team. "So, the  _Foghorns_  are playing against the  _Swift Sticks_  in the semi-finals?"

Riley beamed. "Yeah, it's really exciting. If we win, we'll play the  _Bladers_  in the championship."

"You'll definitely win. You guys are the best."

Joy chuckled and nudged Anger. "Isn't small talk adorable?"

"As long as it doesn't lead to any awkward silences," Fear agreed.

The walk to the movie theater was rather uneventful. But when they got there, they saw that there was a rather long line.

"No, no, no, no!" Fear shouted. "Just look at that line! We're going to miss the beginning of the movie! Or worse, they'll be sold out!

"Oh dear," Sadness muttered, "that'll ruin their date."

Joy waved her hands. "People, people, don't panic. There's still plenty of time before the movie starts. These lines move fast. We'll even have time to buy snacks and play a few games. And even if they do sell out, there are other movies we can see. Or we could go somewhere else. Maybe to the park, or we could get some ice cream. Everybody loves ice cream!"

"But ice cream could give us a brain freeze," Sadness pointed out. This earned her a look from the other Emotions. "Sorry, I went sad again."

"Whoa, heads up!" Disgust announced. "It's Caprice at 3:00."

Coming out of the movie theater accompanied by her two friends was the "coolest girl" in school, the one Disgust had insisted that Riley be friends with on her first day at her new school. And while they were friendly with one another and on speaking terms, they weren't exactly friends, not like the other two girls she was always with.

Riley raised her hand in greeting. "Hey, Caprice."

Caprice glanced at her. "Oh, hi, Riley, and, um…"

"Jordan," the boy reminded her.

"Right, Jordan," Caprice muttered.

"Are you two on a date," the girl to the left of Caprice asked. "That is so cute."

Fear began to panic. "Was that sarcasm? I couldn't tell. Was that sarcasm? Tell me it wasn't sarcasm!"

Disgust tapped her chin. "Hmm, it could have been mockery for Riley having a boyfriend, respect or admiration that she does, or jealousy because she doesn't. It's too soon to tell. Best to tread carefully."

"Yeah, we're going to catch a film," Riley replied. "What'd you guys see?"

The three girls looked caught off guard at the question and shifted uncomfortably. Caprice's two friends looked to her for an answer. "Oh, um, we snuck into an R rated movie. Probably too intense for you though."

Anger rolled his eyes. "Snuck into an R rated movie, yeah right. As if I believe that."

"Don't they know the risks of sneaking into a movie like that?" Fear exclaimed. "Even if they're not caught, a movie like that could scar them for life."

Disgust, however, just smirked. "That's what the cool kids do. We really need to get Riley to hang out with them more often."

"Are you crazy?" Fear demanded. "That's a slippery slope to delinquency."

But the atmosphere suddenly changed as a somewhat nerdy boy came bursting out of the theater. "Whoo hoo!  _Star Wars!_  Greatest movie series ever!"

The three cool girls' faces fell as Riley glanced at the new boy. "Isn't that your brother?"

Caprice rolled her eyes. "My mom made me bring him."

The boy rushed over to his sister. "Sis, you should have seen it! I knew Disney wouldn't mess up the series. So, how was  _The Road Chip?"_

The three girls' mouths dropped open, as did Disgust's. Anger, however, pointed at the screen and laughed. "Ha! I knew they were full of it."

The nerdy boy then turned to Jordan and Riley. "Hey, Jordan, my man. How's it going?"

The two boys fist bumped. "Jean, hey. You coming to the next gig?"

"Oh, you know it. I can bring the eats too. The folks are showing me how to cook these awesome snacks."

"Sounds… um, sweet."

"I know, right? There's always goods eats when your parents are the famous chefs Alfredo and Colette Linguini. Ever since we moved here from France so Dad could study under that pastry chef, dessert time has been awesome!"

One of Caprice's friends scoffed. "Wow, Caprice, your brother is such a loser."

"Try living with him," Caprice muttered. "He still believes that story Dad told him about that rat that can cook." She pushed her brother aside and walked up to Riley. "Listen, don't mention this to any of the kids at school, ok. We did not see that stupid  _Chipmunks_  movie. My brother doesn't know what he's talking about."

"Sure I do," Jean replied. "I saw you and your friends go into the theater, and that was what you bought a ticket for."

His sister's eye twitched. "No, you didn't. That was the movie playing next to them one we went into."

Quick as lightning, Jean's hand shot out and reached into his sister's pants pocket. Pulling out her movie ticket, he held it up victoriously. "Ha! See. It says so right there,  _Alvin and the Chipmunks._ "

A murderous look crossed Caprice's face. "Jean, I'm going to kill you!"

Jean yelped and took off as his sister chased after him. Her two friends shared an uneasy look before following while still trying to look cool.

"Ok, that was strange," Joy muttered.

"Posers," Anger repeated. "The whole lot of them. Riley's better off with the friends she has now."

Disgust waved her finger at him. "Hey, posers or not, they've got a good rep; that's what matters."

"Um, guys," said Sadness pointing to the screen, "we're almost there."

Both Riley and Jordan bought a ticket and headed into the movie theater. For being so long, the line had moved quickly, so they still had some time before the movie started.

"See, told you we'd have plenty of time," Joy told them.

"You want to get anything?" Jordan asked, motioning to the snack stand.

"Uch!" Disgust scoffed. "As if Riley needs the sugars and carbs."

Joy waved it off. "Ah, come on. A little snack won't hurt."

"Popcorn is actually a pretty healthy snack," Sadness pointed out.

Disgust rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever. But no butter, that's just extra fat we don't need."

"But popcorn can get stuck in our braces!" Fear exclaimed.

His concerns were ignored as both Riley and Jordan got a bag of popcorn. Once their snacks were paid for, the two teens decided to kill some time with some arcade games. Jordan chose _Hero's Duty_  while Riley went with  _Sugar Rush_.

"Oh, I love this game!" Joy exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's ok," said Sadness. "But why can't we ever play as the princess on the side of the game console? And who's this King Candy guy? His picture isn't anywhere."

"Sadness, it's a game," Anger told her irritably. "Who cares if his picture isn't on the console? Besides, the character selection changes everyday."

"Yeah, I know that. I just find it strange that the lead racer isn't on the game console while someone who is never seems to be in the racing roster whenever we play. It's so sad."

"They're characters in a game, Sadness, they don't get sad!"

"You don't know that, they could be self aware."

Joy pointed to the screen. "Oh, look, there's the finish line! We're gonna win!"

But she spoke too soon as one of the computer characters used their power up to strike Riley's racer, knocking her off course and costing her the race.

"Oh, come on!" Anger shouted. "Right at the end? That was such a cheap shot! This game is rigged!"

Riley slapped her steering wheel in frustration. "Oh, man!"

Joy placed a hand on Anger's shoulder. "Calm down, it's just a game."

"Yeah, one we paid for!"

"Aaaaaand… we had fun playing it, right? That's what really matters."

"Yeah, but now we're losers," Sadness muttered gloomily.

"No, no, no, no. We're not losers. We just came in ninth place… out of nine."

"That's losing!" Anger snapped. "And now we need to pay another quarter to continue!"

As Riley reached into her pocket for another quarter, a three-eyed green skinned toy alien wearing a blue spacesuit appeared in front of her, causing Fear to jump into Disgust's arms fearfully. The green Emotion rolled her eyes and dropped him as they looked at the squeaky toy.

"For you," said Jordan. "I won it in the crane game."

"Uch," Disgust muttered. "Why would Riley want that thing?"

"Oh, come on," said Joy. "It's adorable."

Riley reached up and took the alien toy. Se gave it a squeeze, giggling when it squeaked. "It's cute. Thanks." She motioned to the Player 2 seat next to her. "Want to race me?"

Taking out his cellphone, he checked the time. "Actually, we should get going; the movie is going to start soon."

"Oh, ok, maybe after it's over."

Gathering their popcorn and drinks, they headed into their theater. It wasn't too crowded, leaving them with plenty of places for them to sit.

"Where do you want to go?" Riley asked. "Top, middle, or bottom?"

"Anywhere but the bottom," Jordan pleaded. "I always get a headache when I sit too close, and the guys always want to sit right up front whenever we go."

He had once confessed to her that his fellow band mates liked sitting up close to the screen because, and Jordan had quoted, "They would have a nice close up of view of a girl's chest when she took her shirt off".

"Gross!" Disgust grumbled. "Why are boys so disgusting? Thank goodness Jordan isn't like that."

"Please," Fear muttered. "All boys are like that, even if they act like they're not. That includes Jordan."

"Hey, as long as he doesn't do it around us."

"Shh!" Joy shushed them. "The previews are starting."

Anger grinned, rubbing his hands together eagerly. "Alright, lets see what's good that's coming out."

" _TripleDent Gum, will make you smile! TripleDent Gum, it lasts a while! TripleDent Gum, will help you, mister, to punch bad breath right in the kisser! TripleDent Gum!"_

"Are you kidding me?" Anger shouted. "Why are they playing this during previews?"

"Weeeeell…" Joy muttered, "sometimes they play commercials before previews."

"Yeah, but why did it have to be  _that_  one?"

Both Riley and Jordan were quietly singing along with the jingle. They noticed and shared a smile.

"This song gets stuck in your head too?" the latter asked.

"Oh my gosh, like all the time," Riley laughed. "It's like someone randomly decides to play it in my head over and over."

"Sweetie, you have no idea," Anger grumbled.

"Oh, come on, it's not so bad," Joy insisted, even as her eye twitched irritably. "Look, the real previews are starting."

There was little talking after that, excluding the commentary the Emotions made about whether or not a preview looked good. Joy took an interest in the comedies while Sadness wanted to see the tragic love story, Anger wanted to see the action movie, and Disgust wanted to see the dance movie. As for Fear, well, he had passed out when a preview for a horror movie came on.

There was no more talking once the movie itself started, but midway through, Fear, who had regained consciousness, took notice of something in Riley's peripheral vision. "Guys, look! He's going for her hand! Jordan is going for her hand!"

Next to Riley's hand, Jordan's was slowly inching his closer to hers, his intent evident. Even though it was in Riley's line of vision, she was too focused on the movie to take notice.

"What do we do? What do we do?" Fear shouted, yanking his single swirl of hair. "Quick, make her want to reach for more popcorn!"

"Don't panic!" Joy said loudly. "We can handle this."

Disgust placed her hands on her hips. "You don't think this is moving too fast?"

"He just wants to hold her hand," Joy pointed out. "They've held hands before plenty of times."

"Uh, yeah," Disgust agreed, and motioned to what was happening in the movie, "but not in the darkness of a movie theater, where it can easily lead to something more."

"It's a slippery slope!" Fear exclaimed. "Right now he just wants to hold hands, but then he's going to want more! We'll be pregnant by the end of the week!"

"Please, they're 13," Anger insisted.

"So? You know what Mom said. Boys are only interested in one thing."

Disgust tapped him on the shoulder. "Um, genius, you're a boy."

"True," Fear agreed, "but we're not capable of doing that." He crossed his arms, looking proud of himself. "And I'd be too much of a coward to try it even if I could."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down," said Joy. "I think we're all getting a little ahead of ourselves. Lets just take things nice and slow."

Jordan's fingers brushed against Riley's. She appeared startled for a moment, but then she smiled and interlocked their fingers. Holding hands, they went back to watching the movie.

"There," said Joy, "you see. Just a harmless display of affection."

"Yeah," Sadness agreed, "until our hand gets all sweaty."

Joy groaned. Though she had accepted that Riley needed Sadness in her life, sometimes the blue Emotion could really dampen the mood. "Leeeet's just watch the movie."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Makes you wonder how things really went on "Riley's First Date" after she and Jordan left together. I'd love to see how that played out. I hope the switching between the outside world and inside Riley's head didn't get too confusing. There will be jumps like that where we go from an outside scene to an inside one. Hopefully everyone will be able to follow it. Speaking of following things, who found the Easter eggs this chapter. There were six this time. Did you find them all? One was fairly obvious. Caprice is the daughter of Alfredo and Colette from "Ratatouille". She does look a lot like Colette as a child, only with darker hair and brown eyes, the same as Alfredo, if you noticed, thus I theorized that she was their daughter, the whole Grand Disney Unification thing, you know. I also noticed, amongst the children at during lunch, there was a boy in the background that looked like Alfredo as a child, but with darker hair, which is where Caprice's brother came from for this story. There'll be more Easter eggs in later chapters, so don't forget to look.)


	4. A Welcomed Intruder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: More Easter Eggs. Enjoy them while they last. There's a real sneaky one in this chapter. I'll reveal it at the end in the Author's Note. Last chapter the Easter Eggs 'Hero's Duty' and 'Sugar Rush' from "Wreck-It Ralph", Caprice and Jean being Alfredo and Colette's children from "Ratatouille", the movie Riley and Jordan saw was "The Good Dinosaur", and the green alien toy from "Toy Story". Also, if you want to count it, "Star Wars" which is now owned by Disney, was mentioned. This chapter really starts to get into the story's plot. Hope you like it.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Chapter 3: A Welcomed Intruder**

It had been an enjoyable date. After the movie, they had gone for ice cream, walking through the park as they ate, talking about nothing and everything. Afterwards, Jordan walked Riley home, and they stopped by her doorstep. But something was different this time from their past dates, something that seemed to have been building up and was now taking place on an unspoken level.

"Well, that was a lot of fun," said Riley, fidgeting nervously.

"Yeah," Jordan agreed, also looking nervous. "Maybe we can do it again next Saturday."

"Next Saturday?" Anger cried. "Did he forget what's happening next Saturday?"

"Don't worry," said Joy. "I got this."

Riley giggled as she moved a lock of hair out of her face. "Next Saturday is the semi-finals."

"Oh, right," said Jordan. "Your game. I'll definitely be there to cheer you on. How about Sunday then?"

Riley smiled. "Sunday sounds great."

Jordan was fidgeting now as well. "Awesome… um…"

The Emotions leaned in. "Is he going to do it?" Joy asked. "I think he's going to do it."

Fear was clawing at his face. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Our first kiss! What do we do? What do we do?"

"He better not be one of those slobbery kissers," Disgust muttered, though she was just as focused on the screen as the others.

"Chill out," Anger hissed at them. "He hasn't gone for it yet."

"Well, lets give him some incentive," Joy suggested, pressing a button.

Riley leaned in slightly, hoping to convey what she wanted. Jordan froze, his eyes going wide as inside his head his own Emotions were screaming hysterically as an alarm sounded,  _"KISS! KISS!"_

"This is actually happening!" Jordan's Joy exclaimed. "What do we do?"

"Abort! Abort!" his Fear shouted, and made a dive for the controls, hitting a button that sent a jolt of terror through their person.

"Well, uh," said Jordan, a little too loudly. "I'll text you later!"

And then he was gone. Riley was taken aback at his sudden departure, as were her Emotions.

"What just happened?" Anger asked, completely flabbergasted. "He had a clear opening."

"Did we not give him a clear enough signal?" Joy wondered.

Disgust scoffed. "Please. He chickened out. Plain and simple."

"Or maybe he doesn't want to kiss us," Sadness muttered.

Anger's head began smoking. "Or maybe he doesn't think we're good enough."

Disgust tapped her chin. "Hmm. Maybe we came on too strong. We definitely don't want to come across as too easy."

Fear looked at them. "So should she be mad he didn't kiss her, or sad." He gasped. "Maybe she should be afraid he doesn't want her anymore. That's it, isn't it? He's dumping us!"

He reached for the controls, but Joy placed her hand over his to stop him. "Guys, come on, don't be so negative. I think Disgust is right, he just panicked. It's actually kind of cute that he's so shy."

Riley chuckled and shook her as she went inside. "Mom, Dad, I'm home."

"We're in the kitchen, dear," came her mother's voice.

Riley went into the kitchen to find her mother cooking. She looked around, but didn't see her father anywhere. "Where's Dad?"

"He had to work late tonight. He should be home soon."

"Oh, ok." She walked over to the stove. "What's for dinner?"

Her mother smiled. "Chicken stir fry, with my own special touch, and I just bought some ice cream cake from  _Buy Yogurt_  for dessert. But lets hear about you. How was your date with Jordan?"

"She's probing us again," Anger grumbled irritably. "Does she not trust us, or something?"

"No, she's just curious," said Joy. "Her little girl is growing up after all."

"Hey," said Sadness, "do you think she should ask Mom about the kissing thing?"

"Are you kidding?" Disgust snapped. "No way! That is, like, the absolute  _last_  thing we should do."

"It was fine," Riley replied, rubbing her arm shyly. "We saw a movie and had ice cream in the park."

"That sounds great," Mrs. Anderson replied. "Go wash up for dinner, and you can tell me all about it."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

The screen went black as Riley shut her eyes. A few minutes later, she was asleep, and most of Headquarters powered down.

Joy smiled proudly. "Excellent job, everyone. Another successful day."

She looked over at the wall of memories for the day, pleased to see that most of them were the yellow color of happiness. With a smile, she sent them down to Long Term Memory.

"Alright," said Fear, "who's turn is it for dream duty tonight?"

"Mine," Disgust grumbled unhappily. "And Dream Productions better be showing something good."

Sadness stepped forward, tapping her index fingers together. "Um, I can do dream duty for you tonight if you want."

Disgust didn't miss a beat. "Sweet, have fun with that."

As the green Emotion walked off to their sleeping chambers, Joy gave Sadness a strange look. She walked over to the blue Emotion as she pulled up a chair by the control panel.

"Hey, um, Sadness," she began, "I've been meaning to ask you for a while now, but are you ok?"

The blue Emotion suddenly looked uneasy. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's just that we used to rotate each night who has dream duty, but for the past few weeks, you've been doing it every other night. Any reason why?"

"Oh, see, well I, I mean, it's just that I'm… uh… working on a project. Yeah, it's something I can only do while Riley is asleep. So I've been taking more nights to work on it."

Joy stared at her with a raised eyebrow. "Uh huh…" Then she smiled. "Sounds fun! What's the project? Can I see it? Do you need any help?"

Sadness almost looked frightened. "Oh, no! That's not necessary. It's actually a surprise. No, I mean, not a surprise; it's a… personal project. So really no one else can help me with it. I appreciate the offer though. Thanks. Now, don't you think you should be getting to bed? You had a dream duty last night. Don't want to stay up two nights in a row. Even I don't do that. We need you fully energized for work tomorrow."

She had begun gently pushing the yellow Emotion out of the control room. Joy was completely baffled by Sadness' behavior. Something was definitely up. Just what kind of project was she working on? But if it was personal, she didn't want to pry.

"Well, ok. But if you need any help, feel free to wake me up."

"Oh, yes, I'll be sure to do that. Have a good night."

She lightly shoved Joy out of the room and shut the door. Leaning against it, she wiped her forehead and breathed a sigh of relief.

How much longer would she be able to hide this? She knew she would get caught eventually. It would only been a matter of time before the others found out. Actually, she wondered why it had taken this long for one of them to ask, but it was good for her.

She waited a good 15 minutes before getting up and going to the drop off spot for the Train of Thought. She knocked on the door a certain number of times in a certain rhythm and waited. A moment later, a similar knock followed on the other side. That was the signal.

Feeling giddy, she opened the door, blushing at the person on the other side. "Hi, I.B."

The person gave her a smile and reached out to take her hand, planting a kiss to the back of it. "Sadness, how lovely to see you. I've been counting the hours."

"Oh, I.B." she giggled bashfully. "You're too much."

The visitor, I.B., tapped her nose and gave her a wink. "Are the others asleep?"

"Huh? Oh, yes. But it was a bit of a close call today. I think Joy is getting suspicious. She asked me why I keep volunteering for dream duty."

Her visitor looked concerned. "I'm not visiting too often, am I? Is every other night too much? I can come less often if you're not getting enough sleep."

"Oh, no, it's not that," she insisted, moving aside to let them in. "I'm fine with as much sleep as I get." She blushed again. "And you make me feel not so sad."

"Glad to hear it, my dear," they replied and walked in. "You make me feel 'not so sad' too."

Sadness giggled. "You're such a charmer."

They went into the control room. Sadness quickly retrieved another chair and set it down by the one at the controls. Her visitor sat down and she hopped into the seat beside them.

"So, what's on?" I.B. asked, looking at the dream screen. It was a replay of the end of Riley's date with Jordan, only with a different ending where Jordan didn't chicken out and actually made a move.

"Oh, it looks like Riley's dreaming that Jordan actually kissed her after their date." She sighed. "How lovely."

"Um, yes, lovely," I.B. replied. "Um, would you mind shutting it off? It's kind of awkward watching Riley kiss a boy while I'm with you like this."

Sadness looked uncertain. "Oh, I don't know. We're not supposed to switch off her dreams. And she's having a really nice one too."

"Are you sure? Perhaps we could reenact what's happening on screen between us."

Sadness blushed furiously. "O-Ok. Most dreams aren't remembered anyway."

She reached down to unplug the cable that connected the video feed, but her visitor stopped her. "Wait, let me see if I remember how to do this."

Sadness hesitated. "Well, ok, just be careful."

"Of course, I would never hurt Riley. Now, if memory serves, I just have to do this."

They pulled the plug and the screen went black. Sadness giggled bashfully. "Wow, you remembered."

"Of course I did," I.B. replied, reaching up and stroking her cheek. "I've had a wonderful teacher."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Joy couldn't sleep. Her curiosity was getting the better of her. What kind of project was Sadness working on? Was it to help with Riley's hormonal mood swings? Was it to help her improve her relationship with Jordan? Was it a new secret strategy in hockey? Was it not related to Riley at all?

She sighed. "What could it be?"

Maybe she should go check and ask if she needed anything? But no, Sadness had insisted that she didn't need any help. Or maybe she did and just didn't realize it. Perhaps she really should check, just to make sure.

No, that would be an invasion of privacy.

Well, not if she wasn't  _trying_  to find out what Sadness was doing. It wasn't as if she was going to eavesdrop or spy on her. But if she was concerned and decided to check on her, and she just  _happened_  to discover what Sadness was working on in the process…

She hopped out of bed, creeping to the door so she didn't wake up the other three Emotions. If Anger woke up, he'd be very cranky, if Fear woke up, he'd be freaked out from the shock, if Disgust woke up, she would never shut up about not getting her beauty sleep. As if that were a problem since Emotions never aged, although they could change a bit if there were major changes to their persons' personality.

Tiptoeing out, she stopped as she saw Disgust. The green Emotion was dangling out of bed, half her body hanging over the side, a trail of drool dripping from her mouth. Joy had to hold back a laugh at the sight. If she could see herself.

Exiting the sleeping quarters, she headed for the control room. She was about to walk in and ask if Sadness needed anything when she heard voices. At first she thought it was coming from the dream screen, but then she heard Sadness talking back. Was she interacting with what was playing? No, an actual conversation was being held between Sadness and the other speaker. Someone else was in the control room!

And they sounded familiar.

But no one aside from the Emotions were allowed in the control room, except for the Mind Workers on a few occasions such as when they made delivers from the Train of Thought, or the time when they provided the Emotions with their upgraded control pad. Just what was going on? Sadness should know better, this was a security breech.

She threw open the door, startling the two inside. Sadness' mouth dropped open in surprise at seeing the yellow Emotion. "J-Joy!"

Joy looked from Sadness to the other person. There was only one question on her mind. "Um, what's going on here?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: A very good question. What is going on here? Who is this mysterious visitor known as I.B.? And does Sadness actually have, gasp, a boyfriend? Can Emotions even have relationships? And what of Riley's relationship with Jordan? So many questions. And here's another one. Did anyone spot the Easter Egg? It was the frozen yogurt Riley's mother bought from Buy Yogurt. If you didn't know, 'Buy Yogurt' was the company that eventually becomes 'Buy 'n' Large', the major company from "WALL-E". Anyone catch it? If so, bonus points for you. Tune in the week for the next chapter to discover I.B.'s identity.)


	5. Breaking the Rules

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Sorry, but no Easter Eggs this chapter. I'll let you know when I do another one. For now, we'll be unraveling the mystery of who I.B. is, and why Sadness is meeting with them.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Chapter 4: Breaking the Rules**

"I… I can explain," said Sadness. "This is Imaginary Boyfriend."

"Please," said the visitor, "call me I.B."

Joy pointed at him. "I remember you. You and your copies helped Sadness and I get back to Headquarters."

If by help she meant creating a whole bunch of copies of him to pile up so she could jump off them and onto the trampoline to spring all the way back up to Headquarters, leaving all the copies to fall into the Memory Dump to be forgotten. But then they did say that they would die for Riley.

"Yes," I.B. replied, "although I'm not one of the ones that was in your tower."

"Huh," said Joy thoughtfully. "I thought you all went away after Riley got a real boyfriend, I even remember seeing the Mind Workers toss the boyfriend maker machine into the Memory Dump."

I.B. smoothly combed his hair back. "That's because an imaginary boyfriend was no longer needed once she got a real one. I'm the last remaining one. But someone had to stick around to make sure Riley's happy, so I did." He held his chin up proudly. "I would die for Riley!"

Joy scratched the back of her head uncomfortably. "Yeah, I heard. So, um, Sadness, could I talk to you for a minute?"

The blue Emotion looked uneasy, but complied. "Oh, uh, sure. Be back in a minute, I.B."

He gave her a smothering smile. "I'll be counting the seconds."

Sadness blushed and hurried over to Joy, who closed the door so they would have some privacy. "Sadness, what is he doing here?

"Oh, um, well, he's, uh…"

"This is your project? Sneaking imaginary characters into Headquarters? Just what is going on here?"

Sadness began pacing as she tapped her index fingers together. "We're, um, kind of seeing each other."

Joy's mouth dropped open. "Wait, what? What are you talking about? Seeing each other? As in boyfriend and girlfriend? How exactly did that happen?"

"Well, it started a few months after Riley began dating Jordan. I.B. came up on the Train of Thought. Being Riley's imaginary boyfriend, he was concerned about her having a real one and wanted to make sure she would be ok. We got to talking, and he came back a few times for reports on how things were going with Jordan. Now we just get together to spend some time with each other after Riley goes to sleep."

Things began clicking into place. "Wait, so  _this_  is why you've been taking dream duty every other night, to spend time with him?"

"Well, yeah. We enjoy each other's company. He's kind of the dark and brooding type, so he likes my depressive nature. And he makes me not have such sad thoughts all the time."

Joy sighed. "Sadness, you know this is against the rules. We're not supposed to have anyone in Headquarters, especially after hours."

Sadness began fidgeting again. "Yeah, I know. But it's not hurting anything. And he offers some good relationship advice. He was created as Riley's idea of the perfect boyfriend, so he knows what he's talking about."

Joy threw her hands in the air. "That was before she got a real one. Sadness, things change. When she was four, her ideal future was being a fairy princess that lived in a castle made of sugar and spent all day flying on a winged unicorn."

"I know that, but he still offers advice that could be use. And I've been teaching him too."

That last part caught Joy's attention. "Wait, what things?"

"Well, since he's Riley's imaginary boyfriend, he wants to learn everything there is to know about her, including how she works. He's also interested in what I do all day. So I've been teaching him some of the things that we do up here, and how things in Headquarters work, and stuff."

"Sadness, that stuff's super secret! You shouldn't be telling anyone what we do here."

The blue Emotion looked guilty. "Oh, yes, I know that. But I.B. really loves her. He had Riley' best interests at heart. And learning new stuff about her and how she works helps him offer advice. He swore he wouldn't tell anyone the things I've been teaching him. He'd die for Riley."

Joy sighed again. "Yeah, I know." She rubbed her forehead. "Oi, this is such a mess."

"I'm sorry," Sadness muttered, and looked like she meant it."

Joy grumbled. "It's fine, Sadness. I understand, kind of. But you know that this can't go on. We have very important jobs, and we can't take a chance of things going wrong. You remember what happened that time we got lost."

Sadness hung her head. "I know. I'm such a disgrace."

Joy waved her arms. "What? No, no, you're not a disgrace. You just made a mistake; everyone makes mistakes. But you did it with good intentions, just like I did after she moved to San Francisco. We make mistakes and learn on the way."

The sad look on Sadness' face broke her heart, and she sighed. "Ok, look, how about we have a meeting with the others. We'll explain the situation, they can meet I.B., and then we'll decide what to do."

Sadness' face lit up. "Really? Oh, thank you, Joy!"

She hugged the yellow Emotion around the waist so tightly that Joy grunted. "Yeah, what are sisters for. Now come on, let get back to your boyfriend. Wow, that was weird to say."

They went back into the control room. I.B. was lounging in a chair, reading one of the mind manuals. He looked up as they entered, giving them a smile that made Sadness blush and Joy shiver uneasily. This was so  _weird_.

"Soooo, I.B., was it? How long have you know Sadness?"

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

"You're kidding me," said Disgust. "Tell me you're kidding."

"He's really nice," Sadness insisted.

"Nice?" Fear cried. "Nice? You violated the rules because he's nice."

"Well, he did help us save Riley before, or at least his copies did."

"That's irrelevant!" Anger snapped. "These rules are in place for a good reason, and you've been breaking them for weeks!"

Sadness began tracing patterns on the floor with her foot. "Actually, it's been more like months."

"Months?!" Fear shouted. "He's been coming here for months?!"

"Fear, chill," said Joy. "Nothing's happened since he started coming. Everything is fine. I spoke to him last night. He's not so bad. A little weird, but an ok guy."

Personally, she didn't know what Sadness, or Riley since she thought him up, saw in the guy, but, hey, to each their own.

"So what?" said Disgust. "You want us to meet with this guy, and…?"

Joy shrugged. "I don't know. I guess decide if he can be a regular here."

"We're not some club!" Anger seethed. "We can't just be having imaginary characters coming around Headquarters all willy-nilly."

"I'm not saying we do," said Joy. "I'm just suggesting we make one exception."

Fear looked uneasy, but seemed to be considering it. "I guess it can't hurt to just meet him."

He looked at Disgust, who rolled her eye. "Uch! Sure, fine, whatever."

They looked to Anger. He seemed to be the most reluctant, but then he threw his arms in the. "Fine, we'll meet him. You happy?"

It was a foreign feeling for Sadness, so she couldn't say for sure, but she supposed she was. Emotions only tended to feel the emotion they were, but when their person was overshadowed by a specific feeling, even if that emotion wasn't expressed, it could still affect the rest of them, especially when one was trying to cover up the unexpressed feeling, as Joy learned when she was in the Memory Dump, having tried to keep Sadness from expressing herself; it was also why she had glowed blue.

Thinking about that cold dark place made her think of Bing Bong, another one of Riley's imaginary characters. He had allowed himself to be forgotten so Joy could escape the Memory Dump. Before that, he'd simply wandered around Long Term Memory and Imagination Land, lost in the back of Riley's mind. It was sad to think of I.B. ending as a wandering vagabond as well.

Skipping over to the door, she opened it for their guest. "Come on in. Guys, meet I.B."

He nodded at them. "S'up."

Anger raised an eyebrow. "S'up?"

Fear walked over and shook his hand. "Hi, nice to meet you."

I.B. snickered. "No, no, you do it like this."

He slapped Fear's hand frontwards, backwards, bopped the top of his fist, the bottom, knuckle-touched him, and then clasped his hand.

Fear snickered uneasily. "Right, of course that's how it's done." He pulled his hand back. "So, you're Riley's imaginary boyfriend."

I.B. dramatically placed his hand over his heart. "I would die for Riley!"

"Good for you," Anger grumbled. He crossed his arms. "So what makes you think you're good enough for our Sadness?"

He gave the red Emotion a smug smile. "Riley herself thought me up. That makes me the perfect boyfriend."

Anger's head ignited. "Are you sassing me?"

"Just stating the facts."

Disgust walked over and shooed away the seething Emotion. "Go cool off, hotshot. I'm the best judge of character for this." Placing her hands on her hips, she looked him up and down. "I guess Riley could have imagined worse."

"I would die for-"

"Yeah, yeah, you said that already. But what can you offer us in the way of help? Sadness mentioned that you were offering relationship advice for Riley and Jordan."

I.B. combed his hair back. "Of course. As Riley's imaginary perfect boyfriend, I can tell you what to expect from a relationship, and how to proceed with one."

Fear tapped his chin. "That doesn't make sense. Riley thought you up on what she in her inexperience expects a perfect boyfriend to be like. That's very different rom the real thing. So how could you know how things actually work in a real relationship with a real boyfriend?"

I.B. held up his hands. "Hey, whoa, cool it, pal. What you say is true, but even we imaginary characters are individuals that are separate from Riley. We learn, grow, evolve, and adapt. As the perfect boyfriend, I can help Riley be the perfect girlfriend."

Anger pointed at him. "We don't need your help with that," he growled through gritted teeth. "We've been doing just fine on our own so far."

"Oh, no doubt," I.B. agreed. "You five have done a fabulous job taking care of Riley and making sure she has a good life. And you've done a great in her relationship with Jordan too. But Riley is growing up. You must have noticed that even though she and Jordan have been official for quite some time now, their relationship is changing. It comes with growing up. Certainly a little help couldn't hurt. As wonderful as you are at your jobs, you must admit that it can become difficult at times, especially with Riley's hormones flying around, of which I am immune to. When affected, you guys can become a little… extreme at times."

Flames flew from Anger's head. "You want extreme? I'll show you extreme!"

He started towards I.B., and Joy and Sadness quickly held him back. "Whoa, keep your cool now," the former told him.

I.B. combed his hair back again. "See, that's exactly what I mean. I don't mean any disrespect, but you guys can only feel one thing. Riley, however, feels all five of you. You don't want the wrong thing, or even too much of the right feeling, to ruin her relationship with Jordan because her hormones are flying around. I could act as a mediator of sorts when it comes to Riley's relationship since I at least have an idea of how things work."

Disgust considered this. "You make a good point. But a relationship is a learning experience. We live in reality, not some perfect fantasy world like the one you would exist in. We can't have Riley expecting an absolutely perfect fantastical relationship while real life comes her way."

I.B. was nodding along with what she was saying. "Truer words have never been spoken. And you're right; a relationship is a learning experience. But you should at least have some idea of what you want and what you should expect from one. I can offer that, and I can offer more than a single emotion when it comes to a situation."

He casually strolled over to them. "Riley is inexperienced in a relationship. What she and Jordan have had was cute and sweet, but now things are getting serious between them. She won't always know how to react, and neither will you.

"For instance, if Jordan decides to make a bold move, should Riley be afraid?" He placed a hand on Fear's shoulder. "Or should she be angry at his forwardness." He nudged Anger. "Or perhaps she should feel disgusted at his behavior." He wiggled his eyebrows at the green Emotion. "Or maybe she should be happy that he finds her desirable and is making a move." He flashed a smile at Joy.

"What's your point?" Anger demanded.

"My point is, in your inexperience, you may not know how Riley should feel. This is where I could be of assistance. As the perfect boyfriend, I would be able to tell you if Jordan was out of line, or if he was going to far or too fast, or something. And given the situation, you would then have a better idea of what Riley should feel."

He shrugged. "Or I could just leave you to your own devices, and let you make snap decisions that could possibly be affected by hormones that might make you overreact or make Riley feel something she shouldn't, thus having her make a mistake that could ruin her relationship. Kind of like how her friendship with Meg was almost lost back when she first moved to San Francisco."

Fear's hands flew to his face. "He's right! We can't just go into this without any idea of what to expect! I say he stays!"

I.B. grinned. "Excellent. How about you two?" he asked Disgust and Anger.

The green Emotion looked at her co-workers before shrugging. "Well, I guess it couldn't hurt, just as long as no on finds out we're taking advice from an imaginary character."

I.B. made a motion of zipping his lips shut. "I won't tell a soul." He looked at the last holdout. "What about you, Anger?"

The red Emotion didn't look happy, even though that was relatively normal. His fists were clenched, and he looked like he wanted nothing more than to kick out the imaginary character. Yet his responsibility to Riley overpowered his anger. "Fine, but just remember that we have the final say in things."

He received a smile from the imaginary character in return. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

Joy beamed. "Alright, I.B.! Welcome to the group!"

She held up her hand to high-five him. I.B just raised an eyebrow and held up a fist instead.

"Yeah, knuckle touch," said Joy as she touched her fist to his with a little less enthusiasm.

Excited, Sadness hurried over to him. "You did it, I.B. You get to stay."

Smiling, I.B. placed his index finger under her chin. "Of course, my dear. Did you really think I'd allow us to be separated?"

She giggled. "Oh, I.B."

Disgust made a face. "Ok, ew. I cannot be around  _that_  all the time. If you're going to be hanging out here, you can't be doing that stuff, or else I'll retract my vote."

I.B. winked at her. "Jealous? You're positively green with envy."

Joy gave a very forced laugh at, even slapping her leg for good measure. "Ain't he a hoot?"

Disgust just rolled her eyes and walked away.

"But all joking aside," said I.B., "I have a job to do now, and I intend to do it. So," he clapped his hands together, "I think I should start with learning everything I can about Headquarters, and how you guys operate things. Shall we begin?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: So, I.B. is now in the club. Did anyone guess last chapter what "I.B." stood for? He was unnamed in the movie, so I had to come up with something. I think it worked. And Sadness did seem to like him while both Joy and Bing Bong were weirded out. The other Emotions are too. Lets see how things go from here now that I.B. is working with them.)


	6. Emotional Debates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Ok, so I have a little bit of bad news. Well, not bad, just a little disappointing. Due to the workload I'm facing at my job, it's getting difficult updating every week. Therefore, I will now be updating every two weeks instead unless I say otherwise. Sorry about that, but it can't be helped. It'll make you looks forward to the next installment even more. So, this one turned out a little shorter than I wanted. This chapter and next were going to be on chapter, but I decided to split it into two.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Chapter 5: Emotional Debates**

School had let out, and Riley and Jordan were on their way home. Riley's house was along the way to Jordan's, so he would normally walk with her. It was an enjoyable time where they talked about their day, both being in different classes.

"I was totally unprepared for that test," Riley was saying. "If the teacher had just given me one more day to study, I know I would have passed."

Inside her head, I.B. was fulfilling his new role as a relationship advisor to the Emotions. "Ok, now, a good boyfriend would be listening to what she's saying. Check to make sure he is, and Anger, be prepared if he isn't. Disgust, get ready in case he's only pretending to listen."

"I'm sure you did fine," said Jordan. "You always get good grades. At least better ones than I do. My math score is never higher than a C average."

"Looks like he was listening after all," Anger reported.

I.B. nodded. "Yes, she should feel happy about that, but also a little sad that he's doubting himself. Sadness, Joy, do your thing."

"Right," the two Emotions replied.

Riley gave him a grateful smile. "You know I can always help you study for your math if you need help."

I.B. smirked. "Nice job with the studying idea, Joy. Now if he's a good boyfriend, he'll jump at the opportunity to spend more time with her."

"I'd appreciate that," said Jordan, "but my dad has already decided to hire a tutor until my math grades improve."

I.B.  _tsked_  at that. "Ooh, he blew that one. Anger, let him have it."

The red Emotion grinned. "You got it."

Joy's hand grabbed his, stopping him. "Wait, wait. Isn't that a little harsh? Riley shouldn't get mad at him over that. He's not really turning down her help, his father decided he would get tutor."

"That's irrelevant," I.B. told her. "We still need to make Riley's disapproval evident so he'll remember for next time. And besides, if Jordan were the perfect boyfriend, like me, he wouldn't be struggling in any of his subjects."

Joy cut her eyes at him. "He's human," she insisted. "Humans are flawed. They're supposed to be. That's how they learn, grow, and adapt to life."

"Precisely. So we must have Riley show disapproval so Jordan will  _want_  to better himself for her. No more struggling in math means no more tutoring means more time to spend with Riley. Now do it."

"Joy, stop arguing with I.B.," Sadness whispered to her.

"Yeah," said Anger smugly as he pressed a button, "he's the 'relationship advisor' you felt we should have."

Riley's eyes narrowed as a flash of irritation ran through her. "Oh, fine. Thought we could spend some time together." Though she had said it calmly, her tone contained a hint of the irritation she felt.

Jordan seemed to pick up on it. "Once my grades improve, I won't need a tutor, and then we'll be able to spend more time together."

Joy smirked and glanced at I.B. "See. If he gets help from a professional tutor, his grades will improve even more, and much faster. Then there won't even be a need for one, and the two of them could have even more time together."

I.B. didn't say anything, but he appeared to be displeased. For some reason, this satisfied Joy, and she sent a feeling of happiness through Riley.

"Ok, cool. But if you still need any extra help, feel free to ask."

Jordan gave her a grateful smile. "Oh, you know I will."

They walked along some more, talking about random things. Eventually, the topic of conversation turned to Riley's hockey team, the  _Foghorns_.

"You're going to come to our practice tomorrow, right?" she asked.

Jordan frowned. "Sorry, but I got practice too, with my band. Nathan's been scheduling a bunch of rehearsals lately. He says we got a chance for a big gig coming up that he's trying to get for us, so he wants us to be in top form."

I.B. shook his finger at the screen. "See, now that's a major loss in points right there. A man should always put his girl first and foremost."

"What?" Joy cried. "Don't you think you're going a bit too far? I mean, I agree with the putting her first and foremost thing, but Jordan has a life too. He should be able to spend some time with his friends too, just as Riley does. His band is important to him too. Not to mention Riley loves it."

"She's right," Disgust agreed. "We don't want Riley to be one of those selfish, spoiled, annoying, clingy, needy girls. Jordan should be able to pursue his own hobbies."

I.B. just waved this off. "I'm not saying he can't. But when Riley needs him to be there for her, he should be, no questions asked. Trust me, I know what I'm doing; I am the perfect boyfriend."

Riley frowned slightly at hearing he had practice. "Oh, ok. Sorry I can't come."

Jordan shook his head. "No, it's fine. You've got the semi-finals coming up, so I know you've got practice. Not that you need it; you guys are awesome. I'll be rooting for you at the game."

Joy motioned to the screen. "See that. That's how a relationship should work. You compromise. Give and take. Make time for each other, but also have time for yourself and others."

I.B. cleared his throat. "And having never been in a relationship before, you would know this because…?"

She gave him a confused look. "What do you mean? It's common sense. And you've never been in a relationship either, pal."

I.B. held his chin up high. "Of course I have." He smoothed his hair back. "An imaginary one with Riley."

Joy's mouth dropped open. Was he serious right now?

"And, of course," he added, "with my dear Sadness over here. Isn't that right, my blue beauty."

Sadness blushed. "Blue beauty? Me?" She giggled. "Oh, I.B."

Joy resisted the urge to gag. While watching Riley be lovey-dovey with Jordan was sweet, seeing it with Sadness and I.B. was nauseating.

She didn't want to admit it, but she was beginning to regret allowing I.B. to join them. While he did offer relationship advice, she didn't always agree with the things he said. He seemed to have unrealistic expectations of Jordan as Riley's boyfriend, and whenever he didn't met them, I.B. would order either Anger, Disgust, or Sadness react.

Joy may not have any relationship experience, but she knew that what I.B. expected one to be was not how things worked in the real world. And how could he claim to have relationship experience from an imaginary relationship? That was like saying you knew how to fly a plane because you imagined doing it.

As the days went by, I.B. spent more and more time reading through the mind manuals and learning whatever he could from the Emotions. But whenever Riley and Jordan were together, he took an active role in what Riley was supposed to be feeling. And Joy couldn't help but notice that ever since he had gotten involved, Riley and Jordan's relationship seemed kind of strained.

And speaking of relationships, it seemed that I.B. was neglecting Sadness. He spent nearly all his time learning how things worked in Headquarters, or "helping" with Riley's relationship with Jordan.

"He's just learning everything he can right now so we can have more time together later," Sadness explained whenever the subject was brought up.

But Joy didn't feel like that was acceptable. For all his talk of being the "perfect boyfriend", I.B. sure seemed to be failing as Sadness'.

"Well, nothing is more important than Riley," Sadness pointed out. "Not even us."

That much at least seemed to be true. For Emotions, nothing was more important than their person. As was the case with I.B., who would repeatedly remind them that he would die for Riley.

All the same, Joy had concerns of how things were going with I.B. as a co-worker. Therefore, she had decided to have a meeting with the other Emotions to discuss how they felt things were going with the imaginary character working with them. She was just worried that Sadness might have her heart broken if they had to kick I.B. out of Headquarters.

As Riley fell asleep and everything powered down, Joy walked over to the wall of memories for the day. She couldn't help but notice that a lot of the ones involving Jordan were either red, blue, or green, as seemed to be the norm the past week they allowed I.B. to offer them advice. Before he began… interfering, they had almost all been yellow all the time. Something was definitely wrong and needed to be addressed.

With a sigh, she sent the memories down to Long Term and turned to the Emotions. "Hey, guys, we need to have a talk." She glanced at the imaginary character. "Um, a private Emotional talk. Uh, would you mind stepping out for a bit, I.B.?"

He flipped his head back. "Not at all." He turned to Sadness and tickled her beneath her chin, making her giggle. "See you in a bit, babe."

The blue Emotion swooned as Joy sent up a prayer of thanks that they didn't have to eat, or else she surely would have puked. As I.B. sat down by the control panel, placing his feet up on the board as he watched tonight's dream, Joy ushered the others out of the room and closed the door behind her.

"So, what's up?" Disgust asked as she began filing her nails.

Oh boy, how to start? "Well, I.B. has been working with us for about a week now, and I just thought that we should discuss how things are going with him. You know, a first week review of sorts."

A blue hand rose in the air. "I think he's doing great."

Well, no surprise there, Sadness was smitten with the guy.

"I don't like him," Anger growled. "He keeps interfering. It's annoying."

Fear had begun chewing his nails. "He's freaking me out! He makes me feel inadequate, like I don't know how to do my job or something. And what if he actually doesn't know what he's talking about and ruins everything? He's not qualified for this job. We could be leading Riley to her doom!"

Joy didn't think it was quite that serious, but she did have her concerns. "Disgust, what do you think?"

The green Emotion just kept filing her nails as she nonchalantly shrugged. "Meh."

All relatively predictable responses. "I see. Hmm, well, as for me, I have a few concerns myself. I'm sure I.B. is doing the best he can, but there have been quite a few times where I've disagreed with his suggestions, but he made us convey those feelings to Riley anyway."

"But don't forget," said Sadness, "we're inexperienced in relationships. I.B. isn't."

Disgust scoffed. "Sadness, he doesn't have any experience. Riley imagined him to be the perfect ideal boyfriend, and any time Jordan acts like anything less, I.B. makes us give Riley a negative response. But this isn't some perfect fantasy world where everything works out exactly the way you want, and it's unrealistic to expect that of Jordan. I.B. doesn't have relationship experience, he just knows how to act like Riley's idea of a perfect boyfriend that she thought of years ago, and he holds it against Jordan whenever he doesn't act as such."

The others stared at the green Emotion. It wasn't that often that she spoke for so long, or was so insightful.

"Thank you, Disgust," said Joy, completely flabbergasted. She shook her head and regained her composure. "In any case, has anyone noticed that Riley's memories about Jordan since we started listening to I.B.? There used to be a lot more happy ones before we began taking his advice."

There were nods and muttered agreements from three of the Emotions while Sadness just looked at the ground sadly.

Joy sighed as she looked at the blue Emotion. "Sadness, you must have realized it. Things between Riley and Jordan were better before I.B. started interfering."

The blue Emotion sniffled. "Yeah… I noticed…"

"And you know that Riley's happiness and well being is what's most important," Fear added.

"I know," Sadness admitted, and began balling. "But I don't want to lose him!"

Anger grumbled and shifted away from her. "Oh, great, there she goes again."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Sadness!" Joy cried, waving her arms. "We're not saying that you can never see I.B. again. He can still hang out, and the two of you can get together after Riley goes to sleep. He's just not allowed to interfere with our jobs anymore."

Sadness stopped wailing, but her tears kept falling. "Really?"

"Of course he can. Right, guys?"

"If it'll get her to stop crying," Anger growled.

Disgust just shrugged. "I don't care."

Fear tapped his fingers together. "Well, hmm, I guess it'll be ok."

Joy threw her arms in the air. "Great! We're all in agreement. I.B. is no longer allowed to interfere with our jobs. We'll just let Riley's relationship with Jordan flow naturally. No more advice from imaginary characters."

It was a relief when she received nods of agreement from the others, even Sadness. They then headed back into the control room to tell I.B. of their decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: So things didn't work out with I.B. assisting the Emotions. Things rarely do when someone else is telling you how to feel. Since I.B. was what Riley imagined a boyfriend would be like, every time Jordan acts differently, I.B. holds it against him. That's not to say that Jordan is being a bad boyfriend, it's just that the expectations I.B. is putting on him is unrealistic. It's no one's fault really. Having never been in a relationship before, Riley could only imagine what having a boyfriend would be like, and I.B. is the result of that thought. Not to mention Riley was only 11 at most when she thought it him, so her expectations would have been unrealistic too. See where things go from here next time.)


	7. Internal Conflict

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Alright, now the story is really about to takeoff. Last time it was decided that I.B. was going to get the boot. How will he react? Will he take this as a betrayal from Sadness? What will that mean for their relationship? And what about Riley? So many questions to be answered. There's no Easter Eggs in this chapter, but keep an eye open in the future.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Chapter 6: Internal Conflict**

They found him right where they left him, laughing at what was playing on the dream screen. He looked up as they came in, flashing them a smile that made Sadness blush.

"The acting is so bad," he said, motioning towards the screen. "It's no wonder people don't remember most of their dreams. Who would  _want_  to remember this stuff?"

Sadness giggled. "Yeah, it's awful."

Joy resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Aaaaanyway, we just had a talk-"

"Yeah, how'd that go?"

"Um, I'm telling you now. So, we all had a talk about how things are going with the six of us working together."

I.B. raised an eyebrow. "And…?"

Joy fiddled with her fingers as she bit her lower lip nervously. "Weeeeell, it's not that you haven't contributed to the team and been a great help, it's just that-"

"You're out of here!" Anger snapped, getting straight to the point.

Joy slapped her head at his bluntness, but I.B. just stared. "Are you saying that you're firing me?"

Fear made a frightened sound, and Joy couldn't help but to agree with him. This was so awkward. "Um, in layman's terms… yes."

She waited for a reaction from the imaginary character, but there was none, so she continued. "Look, the fact of the matter is that ever since you started adding your… impute, a lot of Riley's memories with Jordan have been sad or angry, and sometimes disgusted."

"Your advice stinks," Anger once again stated bluntly. "Things were better before we started taking advice from you."

"But! But, you can still hang around Headquarters," Joy added quickly. "And we'll come to you for advice when we feel we need it. And you and Sadness can keep up with this… thing that's between you."

She made sure to end things on a positive note with a big grin. There was still no reaction from I.B. as he continued looking at them.

Sadness felt the need to comfort him. "It's not you, I.B., it's everything else. You're perfect, the perfect boyfriend according to Riley. But she's not living in an imaginary world, and so they feel that it's unrealistic to have such expectation for Jordan. Real life isn't a perfect, flawless place where everything works out the way you want. And to have Riley want things to be that way and react badly when they don't is only going to lead to problems."

Joy was nodding along with what Sadness was saying. She had learned the hard way that things couldn't be wonderful and happy all the time. Life had its ups and downs. You had to take the bad with the good. Dealing with the bad times was not only healthy for you, it made the good times even better and more meaningful.

I.B. cast his eyes downward. "I see. Well, you guys do know what's best. I'm just limited to the boundaries of when I was created. Just let me show you one thing before I go."

"Wait," said Joy, "you don't have to go."

"Yes, he does."

"Anger!"

"It's fine," I.B. replied. "I knew it would come to this eventually."

He came back over with a bottomless backpack similar to Bing Bong's bottomless bag. Reaching inside, he pulled out a golden hockey stick and a rope.

"Here, hold this," he said, handing one end of the rope to Sadness.

She gave it a confused look before taking it. "Um, ok…"

"Good. Hold tight." He took the other end of the rope and went over to the control panel. "Now I just need a memory."

He pressed a button, and a memory popped out of the recall tube. He snatched it out and proceeded to tie the end of the rope around it.

"Excuse me," said Disgust impatiently, "but what's the point of this?"

He placed the memory with the rope tied around it on the floor. "This."

He hit the memory with the golden hockey stick. It bounced off one wall, then another, going around the five Emotions. The rope coiled around them, tightly wrapping around them like a tetherball pole.

The Emotions looked down at the rope wrapped around them in confusion before Anger's head ignited. "Hey, what gives?"

I.B. smirked as he twirled around the golden hockey stick. "Riley's imaginary Never-Miss-Hockey-Stick. Take a shot with this, and whatever you hit will automatically go where you want it. I could have closed my eyes and made a shot away from you, and still have hit that memory right down your throat if that was my goal." He motioned towards them. "That rope is imaginary too. It can never be broken, cut, or untied by that which it is binding."

The Emotions began struggling and found that he was right. The rope remained stuck to them, unmoving and unloosening.

"What do you think you're doing?" Disgust demanded. "This is so not cool."

I.B. casually strolled over to them. "Not cool? You want to know what's really not cool? Being an imaginary boyfriend created to be perfect in every way, only to be discarded and forgotten as soon as the girl that thought you up gets a real one.  _That_  is not cool."

"What are you babbling about?" Anger snarled.

I.B. scoffed. "Of course you wouldn't understand. You're Riley's Emotions. You're a part of her. She'll always need you. But us imaginary characters, we're just temporary individuals that are only around for a limited amount of time until our person doesn't need us anymore and forgets about us completely. They move on and cast us aside to either be forgotten, locked away in their subconscious, or lost in the back of their mind."

He tapped the golden hockey stick against palm. "But not me. I can't just be forgotten. I won't be. I love Riley too much. I would die for Riley!"

"That is seriously getting old," Fear muttered, who was strangely calm for being the Emotion that he was.

I.B. pointed the hockey stick at him, causing the purple Emotion to panic. "No one loves Riley more than me. No one. Certainly not that Jordan. I'm much better for her than he is."

"You are  _imaginary_ , you idiot!" Anger snapped. "Riley can't have an imaginary boyfriend in real life! Now let us out of here, we have a job to do!"

I.B. smirked. "Not anymore. I'll be taking over."

Joy's mouth dropped open. "What?"

"Well, you've done such a great job training me, especially you, Sadness. And after reading all these mind manuals, I'm more than capable of working the control panel."

Joy began struggling harder. "No! I.B., no! You're not qualified! You'll only end up hurting Riley!"

He chuckled. "Have more faith. I think I might actually be more qualified than any of you. Unlike you five, I'm not limited to a single feeling. I'll tell Riley how she should feel. And my first order of business is to have her break up with Jordan."

Joy's eyes widened in horror. "What? Why? You can't!"

I.B.'s grin widened. "Oh, but I can." He walked over to the shelves filled with of ideas and picked up a light bulb in the shape of a heart with a crack going down the side. "All I have to do is put the idea in her head, and presto."

Disgust rolled her eyes. "Uch, don't you know anything? She won't break up with him just because you put the idea in her head. We control how she feels, bring up past memories, and put ideas in her head, but  _she's_  the one who decides what to do in the end. Are you sure you didn't skip a few chapters?"

If she thought this would discourage him, she was wrong. "That may be true, but there are ways to manipulate her. All I have to do is constantly make her feel angry, sad, and disgusted whenever she's with Jordan, no matter what happens. And when she's not with him, I'll constantly reply unhappy memories of her time with him, like the arguments they've had. She'll take the idea eventually and act upon it."

"And then what?" Anger demanded. "Just have her be all alone forever?"

"Nooooo!" Fear wailed. "We're gonna be a spinster!"

Ignoring the hysterical Emotion, I.B. addressed the red one. "Not entirely. She'll have me. I'll keep on having her think about her memories of me, and I'll make sure she's happy when she thinks of me in the future." He went over to the control panel and pressed a button. "All I have to do is summon a memory of me, and…"

" _TripleDent Gum, will make you smile! TripleDent Gum, it lasts a while-"_

"That's not it," he grumbled, sending the memory back. "In any case, I'll make sure she's happy. I may need to take out a few of her Core Memories, but I'll-"

"Take out her Core Memories?!" Joy exclaimed. "Are you insane?!"

"I would die for Riley! I'm the only one that can make her happy, and I'll be sure to do it. She'll only think about me. It'll just be the two of us, together forever."

"Ok, you are, like, officially crazy," said Disgust. "You can't have her pining away over you for the rest of her life. It's not real."

He glared at her. "You Emotions have no right to talk. You don't know what it's like to be forgotten, to be cast aside for something else. Well, not me. I won't allow it. Riley is mine now. You five are no longer needed."

He pressed a button, and a recall tube slid down from the ceiling. I.B. walked over and picked up the memory tied to the end of the rope. He glanced at the Emotions, noticing the heartbroken look on Sadness' face.

Sighing, he gave her a look that was almost apologetic. "Hey, I'm sorry about this, babe. It's nothing personal. You were just a means to an end."

A tear slid down the blue Emotions cheek. "So then everything between us was a lie?"

"Not necessarily. I was created to be Riley's idea of a perfect boyfriend. She means everything to be, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get her. As the perfect boyfriend, I know what it takes to make a girl happy, especially Riley since I'm her ideal boyfriend. And Sadness, no offense, but your very nature made it very easy to get to you."

Fire shot up from Anger's head. "I swear, when I get out of this-"

"Sorry," I.B. interrupted as he held the tied up memory under the recall tube, "I can't hear you over your exit."

The recall tube sucked up the memory, which pulled the rope, which pulled the bound Emotions. They cried out as they were sucked up and dragged out of Headquarters. Screams emitted from the Emotions, especially Fear until he passed out from fright.

They were spat back out into a pile of memories in Long Term. There were pained groans, especially from Anger, who had ended up on the bottom.

Shifting until they were upright, Anger spat out three memories. "I think I just swallowed the memory of what Riley had for breakfast this morning."

"Forget what she had for breakfast!" Joy cried. "We just got kicked out of Headquarters!"

Disgust shifted against her bindings. "Hey, Sadness is the one who let him into Headquarters in the first place. This is all her fault."

"You're right," the blue Emotion replied tearfully. "I'm so worthless."

"No, no, no, you're not," said Joy. "It's not your fault."

"Um, yes, it is," Anger growled. "We only agreed to let him in because she was enamored with him."

"Can't argue with that," Fear muttered as he began to regain consciousness.

"This is what happens when you break the rules," Disgust added.

Joy shook her head. "Look, now's not the time. We need to find a Mind Worker or an imaginary character to get us out of these ropes."

"I've had my fill with imaginary characters for today," Anger grumbled.

"Well, we can't get out of this on our own," Disgust reminded him. "Everyone, on your feet."

Working together, they shifted onto their feet and stood up. Being much shorter, Anger and Sadness' legs dangled down, unable to reach the ground as the three taller Emotions tried to get balanced.

"Will you hurry up!" Anger snapped. "We need to get out of here and get back up to Headquarters."

"Yeah, no kidding, genius," Disgust remarked. "Got any bright ideas in that blowtorch you call a head?"

"The train," said Sadness. "It's how I.B. came to visit me before."

"Of course, the train!" Joy exclaimed. "If we can get to the next station, we can take the train all the way up to Headquarters, and have it take I.B. back to Imagination Land when it leaves."

"But what if we don't make it to the next station in time?" Fear asked.

"Then we just take the next one when it comes, duh," Disgust muttered.

"The next one won't come until tomorrow. What if I.B. completely ruins Riley and Jordan's relationship before then?"

"Think positive," said Joy.

"Ok," Sadness muttered. "I'm positive we won't make it in time."

Joy resisted the urge to groan; she should have seen that coming. "We can do it, Sadness. Where's the closest station?"

The blue Emotion motioned with her head. "That way."

"Ok then, let's go. Right, left, right, left."

They slowly moved along, trying to remain balanced as Joy, Fear, and Disgust all but carried the two shorter Emotions. Tied together as they were, it made it very hard to move, and it wasn't long before they toppled over.

"Guys," Fear muttered, "this isn't working."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: I.B. has made his true intentions know. You probably figured that out early on based on this story's summary though. I'm not entirely happy with the way this chapter turned out, but I was suffering from a bit of a writer's block. I really hate those things. So, now we have the Emotions kicked out of Headquarters, and I.B. has taken over with the intent to sabotage Riley's relationship. But after having made the journey back before, surely Joy and Sadness will be able to lead them all back a second time, right? Guess we'll have to wait and see.)


	8. The Blank Slate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: I'm on vacation! Just chillin' in Florida. Great weather. Jealous? Ha, ha! Well, I can't stay long though. Still managed to get this out on time. I worked extra hard before leaving to have it ready before I left, so I hope you enjoy it. I'm not overly fond of this chapter title, but I myself was drawing a blank on what to call it. I'm open for alternate titles if anyone has any good ones.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Chapter 7: The Blank Slate**

I.B. whistled as he opened the Core Memory container. He examined the Core Memories, searching for the right ones. "Lets see, what's this one? Teenage Boy Band? We don't need that one."

He pulled it the glowing memory out and tossed it over his shoulder. Outside of Headquarters, the Island of Teenage Boy Bands powered down and stopped functioning.

"What's next? Tragic Vampire Romance? Who needs it?" He tossed this one aside as well. "Honesty? Lets keep that one. Nostalgic? That one powers The Island of Change and Loss; I guess that ones fine. Hockey? That can stay too. Hmm, Friendship? Nah, I'm the only friend Riley needs."

He continued to go through them, a few more Core Memories joining the others on the floor. With each Island that lost power, different aspects of Riley's personality shut down.

"Ah ha! Here's the big one. Romantic Love." He pulled it from its slot and examined it, scowling when he saw Jordan's face reflecting in it. "That should be me, not that stupid boy."

He threw it against the wall and dusted off his hands, as if having completed an unpleasant chore. "Perfect. And once Riley wakes up, we'll get to work on dumping Jordan and thinking about me again. For now, lets have her dream about me a bit."

He walked over to the control panel. He frowned as he looked at the Dream Screen where it showed Riley single-handedly defeating the entire opposing hockey team and winning the championship.

"Ok, enough of that," he said, and pulled the plug, causing the screen to go black. Cracking his knuckles, he reached for the controls. "Lets play a more pleasant memory."

" _TripleDent Gum, will make you smile! TripleDent Gum-"_

"Not that," he growled, sending the memory back. "Ok, second times a charm."

A different memory arrived and began playing. I.B.'s image of when he was first created appeared on screen.  _"I would die for Riley!"_

He smirked and leaned back in his seat. "There we go. That's much better. Enjoy the view, my dearest Riley."

He glanced out the window, thinking about the Emotions. He wondered where they were right now. No doubt trying to get back. Not that they'd be able to. As long as he was in Headquarters, he was in command.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

"Where is everyone? Anger demanded. "We haven't run into a single Mind Worker."

"Riley's asleep, genius," Disgust told him. "They're off duty except for a few monitors."

"And Long Term Memory is  _huge_ ," Sadness added. "We're not likely to run into anyone on sleep duty."

The red Emotion struggled against his bindings. "Well, I want to get out of here!"

Fear cut his eyes at him. "What are you complaining about? We're the ones carrying you."

Anger's head started smoking. "You trying to start something?"

Panic quickly settled in. "No, no, just saying…"

He trailed off as a loud rumbling sound echoed all around them. Looking to the source, the Emotions watched as one of Riley's Islands of Personality powered down.

"Hey," said Joy, "what happened to Teenage Boy Band Island?"

Before anyone could answer, another Island powered down, followed by another, and then another.

"What's going on?" Fear cried. "Why are the Islands powering down?"

"It must be I.B.," said Sadness. "He's removing the Core Memories that would distract Riley from thoughts of him."

The process seemed to stop after Romance Island lost power. Disgust looked at the powered down Islands, then at the ones that were still running. "Why did he only remove certain ones? Like Hockey? Wouldn't her love for hockey be a distraction?"

Joy thought about which Islands were working and which ones weren't. "Riley's love for hockey is something he loves about her, as is her honesty and such. It looks like he's shutting down the ones that relate to Riley's relationships with other people." She looked at the one with the statue of parents and their child. "At least he left Family Island alone."

"For now!" Fear cried histerically. "There's no telling when he'll pull that one, or any of the others!"

A small flame appeared on Anger's head. "When I get my hands on that rotten, no good…"

A look of despair was on Joy's face as she looked at the powered down Islands. "Why would he do this? If Riley's so important to him, why would he cause all these problems?"

"It's an extreme love," Sadness explained. "Riley is everything to I.B. He wants her to want him as much as he does her, even if he is only imaginary. He can't bare the thought of being forgotten or ignored. And he especially can't stand having Jordan replace him. He's very jealous. He loves her so much he's willing to do whatever it takes to get her, however he can."

"If he loves her so much, he should let her go," Anger growled through gritted teeth. "Her happiness, wants, and needs should be more important than his own."

"Perhaps he believes he can give that to her."

Disgust rolled her eyes. "A man who thinks he knows everything. Typical."

"We've go to do something!" Fear shouted. "We've got to get back to Headquarters! Let's make a run for it!"

He began running, forcing the yellow and green Emotions to run along as well while Anger and Sadness could only go along for the ride.

"Wait, wait, stop," said Joy.

They ended up toppling over again, this time with Sadness on the bottom

"Ouch!" Anger grumbled. "What was that for?"

"I think I broke a nail," Disgust complained. "Joy, if my manicure is ruined…"

The yellow Emotion rolled her eyes. "Forget your nails. Sadness, does that look familiar?"

"I don't know, I can't see," came the blue Emotion's muffled reply from her face being pressed into the ground."

"Well, then just… argh! Hold on." She rolled them over so Sadness was no longer on the bottom. "There, look!"

Sadness blinked, looking at the large building that seemed to stretch on for miles with a door that led inside, above which were the letters  _DANGER KEEP OUT!_  That definitely did not read 'short cut'.

"Joy, no. That's Abstract Thought. Don't you remember what happened the last time we went in there? We were almost completely broken down into shapeless, colorless masses."

Joy smirked. "Exactly. We'll use it to get out of these ropes."

"But, Joy, we could get trapped in there forever."

"It'll be fine. We'll just stay in there until the first phase, then get out before we abstract too much. We'll stay by the door so we can get out right away. Now come on, everyone, on your feet."

With much effort, they managed to get back up and headed for the door. With her hands bound to her sides, Joy bit down on the wheel to turn it and open the door, then used her foot to turn on the machine.

"Ok," she said, "once we're inside, we're going to start to abstract. As soon as you're free, get out as fast as you can."

Disgust gave the door a look. "What do you mean,  _we_  will abstract?"

"You should have read the manual," Sadness replied gloomily.

"Ok, everybody ready?" Joy cried.

Fear looked hesitant. "This doesn't seem safe."

"Here we go!"

They scampered into the machine. Inside was a pure white room that seemed to stretch on forever with the exception of a second door being on the other side. It was like being stuck in oblivion. The feeling was very unsettling, and Fear looked close to having a panic attack.

It happened to Anger first, then Disgust, followed by Joy, Fear, and finally Sadness. Their bodies warped, becoming something one would expect to find in a Picasso painting.

"AH!" Fear wailed. "What is this? What's happening?"

"Calm down," said Joy. "I told you we would start to abstract. This is normal."

"Nothing about this is normal!" Disgust insisted.

"Just hang on a few seconds. We should start to- there we go."

One by one, they fell apart, pieces of their bodies dropping off until they lay in multicolored piles of body parts.

"Now what?" Fear shouted. "We're going to pieces!"

"It's deconstruction," Sadness told him, "the second phase. We have to get out."

With their bodies in pieces, they were able to get free of the imaginary rope. Pulling themselves together the best they could, they exited the machine. Once they were outside, the process reversed, and they were once again back to normal and in one piece.

Fear was hype rventilating. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! That was crazy! Why would you have us go in there?"

Joy nonchalantly smoothed out her dress. "Well, it got us free."

"Yeah, nicely done," Anger grumbled as he dusted off his suit. "Now lets get to a station and get back to Headquarters."

"Just one problem," said Disgust, waving her finger around, "the train doesn't run while Riley's asleep. Do we just get to the nearest station and wait for her to wake up?"

Joy snapped her fingers. "No, I have a better idea. We'll just use a recall tube. Look, there's one right there!"

She ran over to the tube, the other Emotions right behind her, Sadness with hesitation. "Joy, wait. Remember what happened the last time you tried this. You fell into the Memory Dump."

Joy paid her no mind as she detached the tube. "That's because one of the Islands collapsed and broke it. Now come on, we have to hurry. I'll go first."

She hopped inside. The other Emotions shared an uncertain look before Anger shrugged and reattached the tube, and Joy was immediately sucked up, heading back towards Headquarters.

"Hey," Disgust said to Sadness, "that time when you and Joy got lost, why didn't you at least send the Core Memories back?"

The blue Emotion shrugged. "I guess it just didn't occur to us to try that. I was too sad to think about it."

"What about Joy?" Fear asked.

"I guess she was too happy to think about it."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

They were fools to think that he wouldn't be monitoring them. The moment Joy attempted to recall herself, I.B. knew, and he immediately took the appropriate action.

"Oh no," he muttered sarcastically, "they're attempting to get back into Headquarters. Whatever shall I do?" He tapped his chin. "Hmm, you know that feeling when you have a thought, it's on the tip of your tongue, but then you lose it."

He pressed a button on the control panel. Outside, the suction of the recall tube reversed directions, and Joy was sent back the way she came.

"And just to make sure they don't try that again."

He held up a sheet of metal and stuck it into a slot on the control panel. The metal sheet caused the main recall tube that connected to the others to suddenly seal shut.

"I'd like to see them use a recall tube while Riley is drawing a blank."

It would be a bit of a nuisance to constantly remove the sheet of metal every time he had to recall a memory and put it back afterwards to make sure the recall tube wasn't used without his permission, but at least it would keep the Emotions from coming in that way.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Joy cried out as she ended up back where she started. The other Emotions opened the tube for her so she could climb out.

"What happened?" asked Fear.

Joy smoothed out her dress. "He must have inserted the blank slate. No memories can reach Headquarters as long as that's stuck in there."

Disgust threw her hands in the air. "Great. So now what? Do we just sit here until he needs to recall a memory and removes it?"

Fear grabbed her and began shaking her. "Are you kidding? We can't wait around for that! There are trillions upon trillions upon trillions of shelves of memories! More than that! More than we could ever count! And there are thousands of recall tubes connecting to different parts of Long Term! We can't just hope he'll pick a specific memory at the specific tube we're at!"

Disgust slapped his hands away. "If you mess up my hair, I'm tossing you in the Memory Dump."

Joy sighed. "He's right though. Looks like we're going back to Plan A. We'll wait for Riley to wake up and take the Train of Thought."

"If we can make it to a station before she wakes up you mean," Anger grumbled.

"Ah, we'll make it. There's a station right by here."

Disgust raised an eyebrow. "Where?"

Joy walked over to the machine of Abstract Thought. "Just on the other side of this door."

Fear's hands slapped against his face. "Are you crazy? We can't go back in there! I can't believe you made us go in there the first time!"

"It'll be fine," the yellow Emotion assured him. "Look, it's already done abstracting from last time, and there are no Mind Workers around to turn it on again. We'll just make a run for it. In and out in thirty seconds."

She gave them an eager and expectant look. Fear was shaking his head while Sadness tapped her index fingers together nervously. Anger and Disgust shared a look before the latter rolled her eyes. "Sure, fine, whatever."

"Oh, yes, I'm with you," Anger muttered sarcastically. "After all, what's the worst that could happen? Oh, yeah, we could be stuck in there forever as nothing more than two-dimensional blobs of shape and color!"

Sarcasm aside, he seemed to be on board, and so Sadness relented as well. "Actually we would revert even further to colorless, shapeless masses. But I guess it'll be ok if we're real quick about it."

Joy beamed. "Great! That's the spirit!"

Ignoring the trembling purple Emotion, they went back over to the machine. Taking a deep breath, Joy ran inside. One by one, the other Emotions followed her until only Fear remained. "Maybe you guys should go on without me. I think I'll take the long scenic route."

In response, Anger's hand flew out of the machine, wrapped around Fear's neck, and pulled him inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: It's fun coming with ways things work in the human body and incorporating them to the "Inside Out" world. The blank slate for example. Ever draw one? Well, this is how it works. A blank slate is inserted to cut off ideas from getting into Headquarters. I'll be doing other things like that. In the mean time, I.B. is already causing trouble. The Emotions are free, but they're still stuck outside, and I.B. is making sure they can't get back in. Joy and Sadness had it tough the first time, but now there's someone working against them. Things certainly aren't looking good.)


	9. Inner Workings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: The next chapter is here. I didn't know if I would get it out in time since I was on vacation. Went to Florida for a week. It was nice, but MAN did I get sunburn. So, in this chapter, we'll be getting a look at I.B.'s plans for Riley. They won't be good. Hope you like it. Easter Eggs ahoy!)
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Chapter 8: Inner Workings**

Riley felt a little funny after having woken up. She didn't know what was wrong, but she felt a bit… off, like something was missing from her life. The last time she felt like this was back when she first moved, only not as intensely, like only a part of her was missing instead of all of her. Had anyone she knew had taken notice, they would have said that she just didn't seem like herself.

Deciding that she was just having an off day, she put on a happy face and went to school. She'd feel more like herself once she saw Jordan and her friends.

I.B. smirked as he rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Don't bet on it, my dear. Your friends might help, but not Jordan. Lets recall a few bad memories." He pulled out the blank slate. "How about the time he cancelled your date."

He pressed a button and recalled the blue memory. The time when Jordan got grounded for failing his math test and was unable to go on the date he and Riley had plans for began playing. With it, a feeling of sadness washed over Riley, and her walk lost a bit of its spring.

"Or how about the time he forgot your one month anniversary," I.B. continued, recalling that memory as well.

The red memory began playing, making Riley scowl. A month after she and Jordan had started dating, he hadn't done anything for their one month anniversary. Riley had been very upset about that. Worse, he hadn't even considered the day to be monumental, thinking it was only the yearly anniversary that was important.

I.B. snorted. "Amateur. Everyday with Riley is a precious gift from up above."

He quickly stopped the memory from playing before Riley remembered that Jordan had made up for his ignorance two days later with a wonderful gift; there was no reason to remind her of the good times she had with him.

"Ooh, how about the time a fan-girl kissed him."

He pressed the recall button, and…  _"TripleDent Gum, will make you smile-"_

"Come on already!" He could see why that memory got on Anger's nerves.

After pressing a few buttons, the correct memory began playing, showing the time when Jordan's band had a gig, after which one of the fan-girls in the crowd had suddenly latched onto Jordan and kissed his cheek. He'd quickly pushed the girl away, but Riley had been jealous with a capital J.

Sufficient to say, by the time Riley made it to school, she was both sad and angry, namely at Jordan. The poor boy didn't know what hit him as he was met with hostility when he greeted her at the gate.

"Hey, Riley."

She hardly spared him a glance. "Hi," she grumbled, marching past him.

Jordan blinked, caught off guard by her tone. "Um, how's your morning going?"

I.B. grinned. "I think a snippy sarcastic response would work best here. Thanks for showing me the ropes, Disgust."

"Oh, it's fantastic," Riley replied irritably. "It's all sunshine and rainbows."

Smirking, I.B. nodded along with what she was saying. "Good one. I liked the sunshine and rainbows remark. That's my girl."

Jordan, however, was taken aback. "Um, ok. Hey, did you hear about that team of super heroes that showed up in San Fransokyo?" He held up a newspaper that showed a team of five humans and what seemed to be a robot. "They're the biggest news story since that old man with the flying balloon house."

I.B. tapped his chin. "Hmm, superheroes, huh. Lets use that."

Riley barely glanced at the paper. "Great, maybe they can come save me from this crappy day."

Jordan's face fell. "Hey, Riley, you feeling ok?"

"Alright, now let him have it," said I.B., punching his palm. "Come on, listen to that little voice in the back of your head."

"I feel great!" Riley snapped. "I just need to get to class! I'll see you later."

I.B. nodded. "Nice. Very nice. Now lets improve your mood with some thoughts of what a  _real_  boyfriend should be like."

He recalled the memory of when he was thought up.  _"I would die for Riley!"_

"And be happy," he said, pressing the button.

As Riley walked away, Jordan was left standing at the gate, wondering what he did wrong. Inside his own head, his own Emotions were just as lost.

"What happened?" his Disgust asked. "She just snapped at us for no reason."

"Maybe it wasn't for no reason!" his Fear cried hysterically. "Maybe we did something wrong, like that time we didn't get her a one month anniversary present!"

"I tell you," his Anger grumbled, "girls are crazy."

"Wait, wait, wait," said his Joy, "maybe it's a different kind of anniversary. You know,  _that_  type of anniversary that all girls get every month."

The other Emotions' eyes widened in understanding. "Oooooh," they chorused.

"Tell me again," said his Disgust, "why did we decide girls are no longer icky?"

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

The loud rumbling drew the Emotions' attention. Hanging over the Memory Dump, the powered down Island for Romantic Love tried to function in response to Riley's interaction with Jordan. Yet without the Core Memory powering it, the Island could not start up.

"Romance Island!" Joy cried in horror.

It was the same as last time. Unable to power up, the Islands would eventually collapse and crumble to pieces, dropping into the Memory Dump. Joy's hands went up to her mouth as she watched the Island tremble. She couldn't bear to watch it fall; yet she couldn't look away.

Finally, the rumbling stopped. Though a little worse for wear, the Island still stood, much to the Emotions' relief. But there was no telling how much longer before it and the other Islands lacking their Core Memories would collapse.

They could still fix it though. All they had to do was get back up to Headquarters and plug the Core Memories back in. All the damage done to the Islands would be fixed, and any that collapsed would be remade. But there was no telling what irreversible damage would take place in Riley's life in the mean time. They had to get back up to Headquarters, and they had to get back up there now.

"When is the blasted train going to get here?" Anger demanded, his head steaming. "Riley's been awake for hours, and so far, we've seen the train stop at every single station, except for this one!"

"There's really no telling," said Sadness gloomily. "The train goes everywhere, so we can't say or be sure when it will come here, just that it will."

Disgust scoffed. "Well that's stupid. Shouldn't there be a schedule?"

"Different thoughts occur at different times, and in different situations," Sadness explained. "So the train goes to wherever the thoughts are to pick them up."

They fell silence after that. Fear tapped his fingers together anxiously while Disgust examined her own. Anger would occasionally grumble about all the different ways he was going to hurt I.B. while Joy hummed to keep herself distracted. She noticed Sadness sitting off to the side by herself, drawing imaginary circles on the ground with her finger.

With a sigh, she approached the blue Emotion. To say that she and Sadness didn't understand each other was a bit of an understatement. Oh sure, they were friends, and they got along well enough, but being literal opposites, it made it difficult to comprehend many things relating to the other.

Which posed the question, how should she approach her? She knew Sadness was hurting from I.B.'s betrayal, so how did she make her feel better? It was already hard enough to cheer up the always sad blue Emotion, or at least make her less sad, how was she supposed to help with her broken heart?

Sitting down beside her, she watched as Sadness continued to trace circles with her finger. "Sooooo, how you holding up?"

The blue Emotion didn't even glance at her and simply shrugged. "Oh, ok, I guess. As well as can be given the situation."

Joy sighed. So much for small talk. "I'm sorry I.B. turned out to be such a jerk."

Sadness shook her head. "No, it's my fault for not realizing that he was using me. I should have known better. No one would want to be with someone as gloomy as me."

"Sadness," Joy exclaimed, putting an arm around her, "that's not true. Don't say things like that. He just didn't appreciate how special and important you are. Even I didn't realize it until we got lost together and I got to know you better. We're all needed; we balance each other out. I'm an idiot for not figuring that out sooner, but I realized my mistake while I.B. didn't. His loss."

She received a sad smile from the blue Emotion. "Thanks, Joy. You're a good friend." She frowned again. "I just hope we can reclaim Headquarters before anything really bad happens."

"Think positive. Whatever damage I.B. does can be undone. We are the perfect team after all. He doesn't know who he's messing with. Just you wait, we'll be back in control in no time."

"But what about I.B.? He won't just give up."

"Oh, don't worry about that. When Anger gets his hands on him, he'll be begging us to lock him away in Riley's Subconscious for his own protection."

Sadness smiled slightly again, and the two fell silent as they waited for the train. As Fear's anxiety and Anger's impatience grew, the train finally pulled into the station.

"It's about time!" the red Emotion thundered. "Doesn't Riley ever use this parts of her brain?"

"People only use 10 percent of their brain at a time," Sadness told him as she walked by.

They climbed on board, setting down amongst the crates full of thoughts. Soon enough, they were off. The tracks materialized as the train rode along them, disappearing shortly after. Headquarters was in sight, and they were getting closer.

"We'll be there in no time," Joy assured them.

Anger cracked his knuckles. "Good. And the first thing I'm going to do is tie that miserable excuse for an imaginary character to the tracks and watch as the train runs him over."

"Yeah," Disgust muttered, "about that. How exactly are we going to get into Headquarters? I.B.'s not going to open the door if he sees us."

Joy tapped her chin. "Hmm, good point." She snapped her fingers. "I got it. Wait here."

She hurried to the front of the train. A few minutes later, she came back with a Mind Worker.

"So what's the plan?" Fear asked.

"This," the Mind Worker replied lazily, and dumped over a box, spilling its contents on the floor. "You guys will hide in these boxes, and we'll deliver them."

Sadness looked down at the spilled contents. "But now everything is unorganized."

The Mind Worker just waved it off. "It's just the presidents and who their vice presidents were. Stuff like that gets mixed up all the time anyway. Now come on, hop in; we're almost there."

Two more boxes were dumped to make room, and the Emotions hid inside. The train pulled into Headquarters' station, and the Mind Workers unloaded the train.

"Ok, now keep quiet," said the Mind Worker who was helping them, and rang the doorbell.

Inside, I.B. glanced at the door. Looking out the window, he saw the train. He knew it would come, had seen it stop by periodically throughout the day when he and the Emotions "worked" together. He also knew that it was the only way to get to Headquarters.

"Hello," the Mind Worker called from the other side of the door when he didn't open it. "Got some more deliveries for Thought Processing."

Which would require him to open the door. How stupid did they think he was? "Open the boxes."

The Mind Worker froze. "Um, what?"

"I said open the boxes. I want to see what's inside."

There was hesitation on the Mind Worker's part. "It's just everyday thoughts and knowledge. Nothing important."

"Then there should be no problem in opening them."

It was clear that the Mind Worker was trying to think of an excuse. "Um, I don't want to accidentally mix up the information, so-"

"Don't worry about that. I'll handle it if anything gets mixed up. Now open the boxes."

"I… uh… look, I got a lot of deliveries here. I don't have time to open every single-"

The box closest to the door opened. "Ah, just forget it!" Anger snapped, his head flaming.

Joy popped out of her box too. "Anger, you ruined it!"

"Oh, please! The guy was totally on to us."

Sighing, Joy climbed out, as did the other Emotions. They walked over to the door as I.B. peered at them through the peep hole. "Welcome back, my friends."

"Friends nothing!" Anger shouted. "You better let us in right now!"

"Or what, grandpa? Your buddies will use you as a battering ram?"

Disgust smirked. "Hey, that's not a bad idea."

"Shut up!"

Joy went right up to the door. "I.B., this has to stop. I understand how you feel, but-"

"No, you don't," the imaginary character snapped. "You Emotions could  _never_  understand how we imaginary characters feel. You're always there for Riley. She always feels  _something_. You don't need to worry about never having Riley think about you or being forgotten. Tell me, Joy, that time you ended up in the Memory Dump, did you disappear? No, you didn't fade away in the least while poor Bing Bong, Riley's once beloved imaginary friend and companion, vanished completely."

Joy winced as she remembered how the friendly imaginary cotton candy-animal combination faded away before her very eyes, and she realized that I.B. was right, she would never know how he felt. Emotions never would fade away, for they were always needed. Even if Riley didn't feel one of them for a while, they would always be there, and would never be forgotten.

"I won't give up Riley," he continued. "She may forget about me, but I will never forget about her."

"I.B…" she said. "I'm sorry. I feel bad for you, I really do. But we all have a role to play. It's our job to be there for Riley when she needs us, not for her to be there for us when we need her. We're meant to make sure Riley has a happy and fulfilling life, no matter what that means for us."

I.B.'s fists clenched. "And I'll do that. I'll make Riley happy. I'm all she needs to be happy."

"Having an imaginary boyfriend is not the same as having a real one," Disgust added.

Throwing his hands in the air, Anger pushed his way past the others. "Enough of this! I don't buy your whole 'woe is me' act. The bottom line is that you're being selfish. You can't accept the fact that Riley's moved on, that she doesn't need you anymore, that she's happy  _without_  you. So you're forcing yourself into her life however you can, and forcing the illusion of happiness on her. She can't truly be happy with a fantasy. She needs something real. But you don't care what she needs or what she wants, just as long as you get to have her. You're just a jealous, selfish fool. Now get your butt back to Imagination Land, and let us do our jobs before you screw up Riley's life even more!"

I.B.'s eyes narrowed. "You're wrong. I would die for Riley-"

"Is that your catch phrase or something?" Disgust asked.

"-I will make sure she's happy," he continued. "Riley doesn't need a boyfriend to be happy. Many people remain single throughout their entire lives and are perfectly happy."

"That may be true," Joy admitted, "but Riley  _wants_  a boyfriend. She  _wants_  someone to love. She  _wants_  to be with Jordan, and you're trying to ruin that."

"I'm all Riley needs. I'm her perfect ideal boyfriend."

"This guy's a broken record," Fear whispered to the others.

"No one else can measure up. Anyone other than me is incompatible, and will lead to an eventual break up anyway. You can't beat perfection."

"I.B." Anger growled, massaging his forehead. "You  _can not_  go through life holding out for a literal fantasy. That's  _why_  it's called a fantasy, because it's not real! You're imaginary! Riley needs something real! Do you plan to turn her into a schizo or something, so that she can't tell the difference between what's real and what's not? Because that's the only way you're going to be able to have any type of relationship with her?"

I.B. rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous; that would be hazardous to her health."

Anger exploded. "You're hazardous to her health!"

Joy placed her hands on his shoulders, wary of his flames. "Whoa, calm down, big guy."

As she tried to hold back the red Emotion, Sadness slowly approached the door. "I.B., was everything between us really a lie?"

Through the peephole, I.B.'s eye narrowed. "You know the answer to that, Sadness."

She slowly lifted her head. "I know you used me, but I need to hear you say it. No more dodging the question. Did I really mean nothing to you?"

There was silence from the imaginary character, followed by a sigh. "I'm sorry, Sadness." And it sounded like he meant it. "It's always been Riley. I would do anything for her. Even if it means playing with her Emotions. But I meant what I said when I told you that it wasn't personal. I never wanted to hurt you. If there was a way to get to Riley without going through you, I would have taken it. But to answer your question, yes, I never felt anything special for you. I saw you as a way to get to Riley, and I took it. I'm sorry, but that's all you ever were to me."

Disgust made a sound of… disgust. "That is so wrong. How could you possible be Riley's ideal boyfriend? Do you really think Riley would go for someone who toys with and uses others like that?"

I.B. nodded. "You have a point. It may be a little contradictory, but Riley created me to be someone who would do anything for her." His tone became more serious.  _"Anything."_

Joy placed her hands on her hips as Anger's annoyance affected her. "You know, Sadness is a part of Riley. Why couldn't you just be happy with her?"

"I can't be content just with Riley's Sadness. I need her, all of her, as much as I can get, and she needs me. And now I think it's time to say goodbye."

He rushed over to the control panel and pressed a button. Outside, a trapdoor opened beneath the Emotions' feet, and they found themselves falling to places unknown.

I.B. released the button and the trapdoor shut, sealing the Emotions inside. "Goodbye."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Ouch that's rough. Poor Sadness was totally slammed. And poor Jordan too. He's got no idea what's going on. I.B. is really screwing things up. And where did he send them? You'll have to stay tuned to find out. I've got big plans for the next few chapters, so look forward to them. Oh, and one more thing, Joy and Sadness' interaction was not meant to be a hint at pairing. I know that there are people that ship them, but to me, any of the Emotions hooking up seems kind of incestuous to me, so there won't be any Emotion couples. But to those that do ship them, that's cool. To each their own. So, did anyone spot the two Easter Eggs? There were two of them. If you didn't here's a hint, they were during Riley's interaction with Jordon. Props if you find them.)


	10. The Argument

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Ok, I know this chapter is short. It was going to be longer, but when I saw how long it was becoming, I split it up into two; the next one, and that one is still going to be long. For now, I hope you enjoy what I have. Oh, and please excuse Riley's behavior in this chapter.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Chapter 9: The Argument**

Riley was confused. She didn't know why, but for some reason, she was mad at Jordan. Whenever her thoughts turned to him, she would get angry. And all her thoughts seemed to be about the bad things in their relationships. The arguments, the cancelled dates, the disagreements, the disappointments. While there may not have been many, all her thoughts seemed to focus on the few that there were.

On the other hand, she also found her thoughts drifting to the imaginary boyfriend she had thought up several years ago. Back before she had any relationship experience, she had daydreamed of her dream boy. After all, what girl didn't at some point? And although she was happy with Jordan, at least she had been until today, she found herself wishing that Jordan could be more like the one she had imagined.

I.B. rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Yes, yes, that's good. It's working. See how happy you are when you think about me. See how angry and sad you are when you think about him."

He skillfully manipulated the controls sending more feelings of anger and sadness towards thoughts of Jordan, and more feelings of happiness when she thought about him.

"Realize he's not good enough for you," I.B. insisted. "Realize that no real boy is good enough for you. No one is better than your perfect ideal boyfriend."

The day rolled by, and soon it was time for lunch. Being mid-December, it was too cold to eat outside, so all the students were holed up in the cafeteria.

As per the norm, Riley and Jordan sat together at lunch along with their friends. This time though, a bout of anger hit Riley as Jordan sat down across from her, courteous of I.B.

"Hey, Riley, can I talk to you?" he asked.

I.B. scoffed at that. "For all the good it will do," he said in a bored tone, sending a feeling of disgust through her.

Riley scowled. "Freedom of speech is a given," she muttered coldly.

Jordan winced. "You're mad. I knew you would be. I should have let you know sooner. Did one of my band mates tell you?"

Riley raised an eyebrow at him, wondering what he was talking about. "What do you mean?"

"Yes, what do you mean?" I.B. asked, suddenly interested.

Jordan now looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Wait, you mean you didn't hear? Oh boy, I thought you were mad because…"

"Because what?" Riley demanded.

Jordan gulped. "Well, Nathan managed to get our band a really good gig. The pay is nice, and it'll get us good recognition. Also, I could really use the money."

Riley was confused. This was a good thing. Great even. Why would she be mad about this? On the contrary, she should be happy for him, but for some reason, she wasn't. Ever since this morning, it was as if someone or something was preventing her from feeling any joy when she was with Jordan or thought about him. But why?

"Ok, well, that's great!" she said, trying to feign the enthusiasm she didn't feel but knew she should. "What's the problem?"

Biting down on his lower lip and rubbing the back of his head, he tried to find the right words to break the news to her. "See, here's the thing. It's at the same time as your game against the  _Swift Sticks_."

At once, the good news became bad news as she realized what this meant. Jordan would have to miss her playing in the semi-finals. She'd been so looking forward to the game and wanted him to be there, but now he was blowing her off for his band? How could he?

In the back of her mind, she knew it wasn't really fair to get upset with him. Well, not too upset anyway. He may be her boyfriend, but he had a commitment to his band mates as well. His friends were counting on him, and he couldn't turn his back on them.

She loved the fact that he was in a band, and she was glad he enjoyed it. She wanted him to have fun, and for his band to be successful. To ask him to abandon his friends just to cheer her on would be selfish. After all, he had come to all her other games.

All the same, she still had the right to be disappointed that he wouldn't be there for her. Yes, she understood that he had other commitments, but it was still a let down.

I.B.'s face lit up at this unexpected development. It provided him with the opportunity he needed, and he immediately triggered Riley's anger and sadness controls.

"You're blowing off my game?" she demanded. "For real? It's the semi-finals, Jordan. You're really not coming?"

The boy's shoulders sank. "I'm sorry. Nathan signed us on without saying anything to any of us. I tried to see if we could change the time we would perform, but it was a no go. I have to show up, I can't let the guy's down. They're counting on me."

Riley slammed her palms down on the table, drawing the attention of the other kids, but she didn't even notice as her anger spun out of control. "And what about me? I need you too! Am I not important enough?"

He winced at her harsh tone. "You know you are. But if I don't show up, this could damage the band's rep. They can't perform without me, but I could still cheer for you and wish you luck if I'm not at the game."

I.B.'s grin widened. "Let's throw a few insults in there," he said, pressing a few of Anger's buttons that would make Riley want to say a few choice words. It would be up to her if she said them or not, but cranking up her fury helped loosen her tongue.

"I can't believe you're going to miss my game for your stupid band," she snapped angrily. "It's not like it's actually going to go anywhere."

She regretted the words as soon as she spoke them. She didn't know why she said that. The words had just popped into her head, and the next thing she knew, they were spilling out of her mouth. She didn't think his band was stupid. She liked that Jordan was part of one. She thought it was really cool. But what she said was hurtful, and also hypocritical. After all, it wasn't like she was going to go pro or make it big with her hockey either.

Jordan looked hurt, but then his eyes narrowed. "I said I was sorry. I don't want to miss your game, but my hands are kind of tied. I you'll win though, and I'll definitely be there for your championship game. I made sure to tell Nathan not to book us any gigs that day."

"Oh, but you booked one on the day of the semi-finals."

"Not me. Nathan did; he's the band manager. And I can't say no. It's good for the band, and the pay is good too. I really need the money for…"

He trailed off, and Riley gave him a suspicious look. "For what? Need the money for what?"

He looked away. "Nothing."

Riley had had enough. "Well, I guess it's worth more to you than I am."

She grabbed her lunch and left the cafeteria, fully intending to eat in the library. Jordan called after her, but she ignored him. In the back of her mind, she wondered what had come over her, but presently, she was too angry to dwell on it.

I.B. sat back, very satisfied with how things were going. This argument was just the catalyst he needed. He glanced at the wall of memories, seeing it full of red and blue memories from the encounter.

"And now to remind her of her perfect boyfriend."

He summoned the memory of himself declaring that he would die for Riley. He'd let that run a few times so Riley would see what a real boyfriend should be like. Jordan should have been willing to drop everything important to him and do anything for Riley, regardless of the consequences. This just supported his argument that he was the only one for Riley.

"And now to play the ace up my sleeve."

He inserted the light bulb in the shape of a broken heart into the control panel, planting the idea in her head that she should break up with Jordan. She stopped walking as the thought occurred to her, but shook her head and continued on her way.

I.B. frowned. So she didn't take it. No matter, he would just leave the idea in the control panel so it remained in the back of her head. In the meantime, he would continue to manipulate her feelings for his benefit and play bad memories of Jordan and good ones of himself.

"Lets see, which one is next?"

" _TripleDent Gum-"_

"NO!"

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)(-)-(-)

"Joy, Joy, wake up."

The voice sounded like Sadness, literally, and the speaker gently shook her. It pulled her out of the depths of unconsciousness, but not quite enough to wake her up.

"Just slap her," an angry voice demanded impatiently. "We don't have time for her to pull a Rip Van Winkle on us."

"Oh my gosh, what if she's dead?" cried a fearful voice.

"Um, Emotions can't die, idiot. Lets just do what Anger said. Here, I'll do it."

A painful slap struck Joy's cheek, and her eyes snapped open. Disgust stood over her, lowering her hand as the others looked on.

"There, she's up," the green Emotion replied.

Joy sat up, rubbing her cheek. "Yeah, I'm up. Thanks for that." She got shakingly to her feet. "How long was I out?"

"Not long," Sadness replied, the same time Anger said, "Too long."

Ok then. She looked around the room, not recognizing where they were. "Does anyone know where we are?"

Sadness pointed to the ceiling. "We fell from up there."

Joy looked up, seeing a recall tube hanging from the ceiling. "Huh. I wonder if we climb back up there." She turned to the others and clapped her hands. "Ok, which of us is the lightest?"

Anger raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Well, I'm thinking if we climb on each others' shoulders, we'll be able to pile up high enough for the one on top to reach the tube."

Fear's hands slapped against his cheeks. "That's hazardous!"

Anger grinned, almost mockingly. "Then you better be ready, 'cause you're the on going up there."

The purple Emotion jumped away from him. "What? Why me?"

Disgust scoffed. "Duh, 'cause you're the lightest. Just look at you, you're a twig."

Joy sized them up. "She's right, Fear. You'll have to make the climb. Sadness, you get on Anger's shoulders. I'll get on yours, and Disgust will get on mine."

Anger scowled. "Why am I on the bottom?"

"Because you're the strongest."

The red Emotion's annoyance instantly vanished. "Oh." He made a muscle and grinned. "Cool."

Fear didn't look happy about this at all. "This isn't going to work. We'll never be able to remain upright."

"Ah, sure we will," Joy assured him. "I stood at the top of over a hundred of I.B.'s copies in the past. Now come on, let's do this."

Hesitantly, Sadness climbed up onto his shoulders. Joy followed suit, then Disgust. Trying to remain balanced, they attempted to convince Fear to make the climb, but the purple Emotion was letting his… fear get to him.

"Will you just do it already!" Anger snapped impatiently.

Fear shook his head. "This has 'danger' written all over it!"

"Fear, come on," Joy pleaded. "Riley needs us. You have to do it. For her."

Fear was fidgeting, seemingly torn between his duty and his very embodiment. Eventually, the insistence of the others caused him to give in. "Alright, alright. Score one for peer pressure."

He walked over to the multicolored tower of Emotions and began climbing, not doing too good of a job of watching where he was stepping.

"Ouch! That's my face!"

"Watch my glasses!"

"Fer, yer foo iz in muh mouf!"

"Where do you think you're grabbing me, pervert!"

"Sorry, sorry. My bad. Sorry."

He finally managed to make it to the top, and was somehow able to balance on Disgust's shoulders. He reached for the tube as the tower swayed beneath him, his fingers grazing against the bottom.

"Hold still," he called down to them.

"Easier said than done," Anger grumbled, trying to remain calm.

Unfortunately, Fear didn't hear him. "Hey, stop moving!"

Anger's head ignited. "I'm trying!"

Sadness lifted her leg away from the fire. "Hot! Hot!"

The tower collapsed. Fear jumped just before he fell with them. He grabbed onto the tube, hanging on with all his strength as the Emotions fell in a pile on the ground.

Grumbling, Joy looked up, seeing the purple Emotion dangling from the tube. "Fear, hang on!"

Now  _that_  was easier said than done. "I… I can't!"

"Don't be a pansy!" Anger snapped. "Get up there!"

"Anger, please, let me," Joy begged. "This calls for positive reinforcement." She looked back up at Fear. "You can do it, Fear. This is your moment. You're biggest job is to keep Riley safe. Well, she needs you now. Show everyone what you're made of."

Her words seemed to have some affect as Fear became more determined. "That's right. She's right. This is my moment. Don't worry, Riley, I'm coming."

Clinging to the tube, he slowly pulled his body up. Raising his leg, he lifted it until he managed to get it inside the tube. This made it easier for him to pull himself up and crawl inside.

Once in, he pressed his back against the tube in a fetal position, breathing heavily from the exertion. "I did it… I did it!"

"Great job, Fear!" Joy called up to him. "Now climb up the tube and get help!"

"Sure, no problem. Just give me a minute to catch my breath."

"You're an Emotion!" Anger shouted. "You don't need to breathe! Now start climbing!"

With great reluctance, Fear did as he was told, slowly shimmying his way up the tube. The Emotions watched as he disappeared into the ceiling, hearing his grunts and groans echo down the tube.

Eventually, his grunts turned into a scream. At the same time, almost mechanically, the Emotions took a step back. Fear came tumbling out of the tube, falling flat on his face.

Anger looked down at him with hooded eyes and a bored look on his face. "Well, that didn't work."

Almost shyly, Sadness raised her hand. "Um, why did we try to climb up the tube anyway? Shouldn't we have looked around for another way first? There's bound to be one."

The red, green, and yellow Emotions stared at her. On the floor, Fear lifted his arm and pointed at her. "I'm with Sadness," he muttered, and his arm dropped down again.

Behind them, a confused voice spoke up. "As amusing as that was, could you tell me what you're doing here?"

The Emotions whirled around. It seemed they weren't alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Ooh, looks like someone else is with them. But who? A mind worker? Another imaginary character? Where are they anyway? Lots of questions that need answers. One other thing though, I'm aware that Riley is acting like a bit of a b*tch. I'm sorry about that, but just keep in mind that it's not really her fault, because she'll be having that attitude for a little while. I'm really excited for next chapter; I've got big plans for it, so look forward to it.)


	11. Love and Hate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Ok, I'm super psyched for this chapter. I really got to let my creative juices flow and create a whole new part of inner Riley. I won't give away too much, so enjoy. Also, there's an Easter Egg in this chapter, so look out for it.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Chapter 10: Love and Hate**

The newcomer was about as tall as Joy and wearing a similar dress, only it was white with red hearts rather than light green with blue flowers, and it contained several laces and frills. She also wore white gloves that went up to her elbows, and yellow high-heeled shoes. She had a heart-shaped face surrounded by curly bright red hair that hung down past her shoulders. Her skin was hot pink and had a very glittery look to it that was very familiar to the Emotions.

Large lavender colored eyes stared at them with interest as she cocked her head to the side curiously. "Can help you?"

Joy glanced at her fellow Emotions, who were staring at the stunningly beautiful pink girl, then back at the newcomer. "Um, I hope so. See, we're a little lost. My name is Joy, and this is Anger, Sadness, Disgust, and Fear."

The girl's eyes widened as her ruby red lips spread into a wide grin. "Joy?  _Thee_  Joy? You're actually here? All of you?" She screeched excitedly and ran at them with her arms spread wide as she wrapped them in a tight group hug. "It's such an honor to meet you guys! We work in different departments, so I didn't think we'd ever meet!"

"That's great, lady," Anger grumbled as her impressive cleavage threatened to smother him. "Now, how about you let us go and tell us who you are."

She quickly released them. "Oops, sorry. Can't help myself. I tend to be very affectionate; it's in my nature. As for who I am, I'm Love. I'm one of Riley's Emotions."

This was received with strange looks. Fear was the one to speak first, raising a finger to point at her. "You're one of Riley's Emotions?"

"That's a lie!" Anger snapped. He motioned to himself and the others. " _We're_  Riley's Emotions."

Love nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, yes, but so am I. You work up in Headquarters, but I work down here in Heartquarters."

Disgust pulled her jealous gaze from Love's much larger chest and cut her eyes at her. "Heartquarters?"

"Uh huh. You hear about it all the time in romance novels and such. 'Follow your heart', 'don't listen to your head, listen to your heart', 'do what your heart tells you'; Oh, I love that one. You guys work in the head, but I work in the heart. Love isn't something you feel here." She tapped her head. "Love is something you feel here." She placed her hand over her chest and sighed dreamily.

Joy stared at her, dumbfounded. "Wow. Ok then. So, um, what exactly do you do?"

Love's face lit up. "You want to see? Come on, I'll show you!"

She rushed across the room, going through a door the Emotions hadn't noticed before; how had they not seen it? They cautiously followed her, entering a room that was similar to the control room in Headquarters. Love was standing by a control panel that resembled the previous version of the one they used to use. There was also a large screen that showed what Riley was seeing like they had up in Headquarters.

"This is where the magic happens," Love told them. "My job is similar to yours, but rather than deciding if Riley should be happy, sad, angry, whatever, about certain things, I decide on whether she likes or loves something, how much, and what kind."

Fear raised an eyebrow. "Um, what kind?"

"Oh, sure. Just like for you, there's different things to be afraid of in different ways, and in different levels of intensity. Being nervous for a hockey game, worried she'll get in trouble for doing something bad, afraid for her life when she's in danger. Likewise, there are also many different forms of love. Platonic love, affectionate love, enjoyment love, romantic love, family love, the list goes on and on. And even then it gets broken down further. For family love, there's parental love, sibling love, love for your children, love for your pet, just to name a few. And then there are different levels of intensity for that love." She giggled. "Sorry, I'm rambling. It's all very complex, but it goes hand in hand with your guys' job."

Joy was now generally curious. "How so?"

Love tapped her chin. "Well, lets look at hockey for instance. Riley loves hockey. I decided that, and decided how much. However, you guys decide what she feels when she's playing, and how intently. If she scores the winning point in a game, you would most likely make her feel happy. Or maybe her team loses; you would probably decide that she should feel sad or angry. However she feels towards it, it's still for something she feels love for. So, you see, we're a team!"

Disgust stared at her with hooded eyes and a bored look on her face. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Right there with you," Anger grumbled.

Joy nudged them. "Ah, come on, I think it's sweet."

The green Emotion rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it's so sweet it's going to give me cavities."

Sadness, however, was looking gloomy. "So it's just you down here, all alone?"

Love shook her head. "Oh, no, there's one other. I'll go get him."

She took off before the Emotions could say anything. Going over to another door, she reached around her neck and pulled out a necklace with a key on it, the handle shaped like a heart. She turned and smiled back at the Emotions, giving them a wink as she stuck the key in the lock.

"The key to Riley's heart," she told them, and disappeared into the room.

The Emotions stared at the door as a commotion took place in the next room. It sounded as if Love was arguing with someone, though she still sounded as chipper as ever, even while arguing.

Finally, she came back out. "He'll be out in a minute. He just likes to be difficult." She turned back to the door. "Come on, our guests are waiting."

There was a crash from the other side of the door, as if something had been thrown. "I hate uninvited guests! I hate  _invited_  guests! I hate  _any_  kind of guests! They're such a pain!"

A new Emotion entered the room. He was short and round, resembling Anger, only he was sphere-shaped instead of cube-shaped, like a large ball wearing a pair of dark red pants, and large muscular arms at his sides, a pair of white gloves covering his hands. His color was black, his skin glittery like the other Emotions'.

On top of his head, several black spikes, a shade darker than his skin tone, stood out like horns, almost making him resemble a medieval spiky iron ball, and down the center of his head, he had a stripe of spiky white hair like one would expect to see on a biker or a rock star.

Whoever he was, he was not happy to see the other Emotions. Thick white eyebrows were cast in a permanent scowl above a pair of large eyes. What should have been the whites of his eyes were red, and his irises were yellow. A jaw set in a permanent snarl revealed a mouthful of sharp shark-like teeth.

"Well, what do you want?" he demanded.

"Whoa," Joy muttered, caught off guard by his hostility. She leaned in to the other Emotions, lowering her voice. "Sounds like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

"I heard that!" the black Emotion snarled, the spikes on his head protruding and retracting in length. "Are you insulting me?"

Love waved it off. "Ah, don't worry about him. He's always moody. This is Hate." She pinched his cheek. "He's nothing but a big softy."

Hate slapped her hand away. "Don't pinch my cheeks! You know I hate it when you do that!"

She ignored his violent outburst as she turned back to the Emotions. "The same way I decide if Riley likes or loves something, he decides if she dislikes or hates it. He's part of our circle too. Like with broccoli. He decided that Riley would hate it, and Disgust would make her feel disgusted by it. We're a team!"

"Yeah, you said that already," the green Emotion replied.

Hate pointed at her. "Don't get smart with me, greenie."

Love placed her hands on his shoulders. "Now, now, calm down," she said, blinking her long eyelashes at him. "There's no need to get snippy. We're all friends here."

"I am calm!" Hate raged, but, strangely enough, he did seem calmer. "I just hate people with attitudes like hers."

Love giggled. "He's just grumpy because there's not many things Riley hates, so he gets bored because he doesn't do much."

"Not true!" Hate snapped at her. "I hate working. And you seem to do fine without me."

"Oh, come on. You know that's not true. Riley needs you too." She glanced at the screen and smiled. "Oh, look, Riley's teacher is assigning everyone homework."

"What?" both Hate and Anger exclaimed. The former walked over to the control panel and began pressing buttons. "I hate homework!"

"Yeah," Anger agreed, "it makes me so angry. I.B. better be portraying that."

"Who's I.B.?" Hate asked, but was immediately distracted by the assignment. "Look at this? Because we're learning about the Salem Witch Trials, now we have to find other cases of witchcraft throughout the world and write a report on it."

Joy's face lit up. "Ooh, I know, we can do one on that snow witch. You know, the one that was the queen of that place. What was it called? Um…"

"Arendelle," said Sadness.

Joy snapped her fingers. "Yes, that's it. We can do a report on the queen of Arendelle."

Hate grumbled. "I guess it won't be so bad if we have an idea of what to write about. I just hate having an assignment with no idea of what to do."

"You're telling me," Anger grumbled. "Wasting time like that really makes me mad."

"I know, I hate it."

Love giggled. "See, our job goes hand in hand with yours. Without us, Riley wouldn't like or dislike anything. She'd just be indifferent towards everything." Her eyes lit up. "Ooh, come with me. I want to show you something."

She ran to the door Hate had come out of, waving the others over. Hate reluctantly went with her, grumbling all the while. He glanced back at the others. "Well, come on. I hate being kept waiting."

The Headquarter Emotions hesitated before following. Upon entering the next room, they found a large place similar to Long Term Memory. Its shelves were filled with pink and black orbs of what appeared to be memories. But upon closer inspection, they were more heart-shaped rather than round. The colors were different shades, ranging from hot pink to pale salmon, from pitch black to dull gray. There were far more pink ones than black, which the Emotions guessed was a good thing. They also saw that there were a few white ones as well amongst the pink and black.

"Memories?" Fear asked.

"Not quite," said Love. "I call them love bubbles. These are the Halls of the Heart It's kind of like your Long Term Memory section. This is where the love and hate Riley feels for different things are stored. Here, look at this." She pulled two pink ones off the shelves. "Riley  _loves_  pizza, see." She held it up, showing them the image of a pizza floating in it. "But then, while Riley likes potatoes, she doesn't care for them nearly as much, look."

She held up the one that contained the image of mashed potatoes. It was a much paler shade of pink. Joy examined them with interest. She reached out to touch them. The duller pink one was warm to the touch while the brighter one was almost hot. It reminded her of the memories and how much Riley cared about them. If a memory became less important to her, it grew dimmer. Once it became too dim, the Mind Workers tossed it into the Memory Dump where it faded away completely and was forgotten.

Joy looked at one of the few white orbs on the shelves. "And what about those?"

"Hmm? Oh, those. Well, remember how I told you that without Hate and me, Riley would feel indifferent about everything. Well, even with us, there are some things that she still feels indifferent towards. We just couldn't decide if she should like it or dislike it. She doesn't love it, she doesn't hate it, it's just… there. Like a pebble in the road, an unknown face in the crowd."

Hate was tapping his foot impatiently. "Why are you explaining all this to them? They work in Headquarters. It's not like any of this matters to them."

Joy waved her arms. "No, no, this is really interesting. The head should learn about the feelings of the heart. It'll help create a better understanding between the two."

Disgust cleared her throat. "If we're going to be getting a whole lesson on the inner workings of Riley's heart, would you mind explaining that thing."

She pointed upon the horizon. Going up into the sky was a tube, and at the end of it was what appeared to be an enormous hot-air balloon in the shape of a red heart.

"What is that?" Sadness wondered out loud.

"Is it going to pop?" asked Fear.

Hate slapped his arm. "Of course not! Don't be stupid."

Love gave him a look of disapproval. "Hate, they don't know any better."

"Well, I hate ignorant people." He motioned to the big red balloon. "That's Riley's heart."

Joy's face lit up. "Oh, her heart. Wait, what?"

"How is that her heart?" Anger asked impatiently.

Love giggled. "Not her literal heart, silly. It's not like the one that pumps blood. It's like your Islands of Personality. Come on, I'll show you. You're going to  _love_  this."

Chuckling at her pun, she led them back inside, over to an area close to the control panel. She pressed down on the ground, and a hidden compartment rose up, revealing a container similar to the one that held the Core Memories up in Headquarters. And inside were what indeed seemed to be Core Memories. Most of them were pink, but a couple were black.

"Core Memories?" Sadness asked.

"Core Love Bubbles," Love corrected. She stroked them affectionately. "These babies power Riley's heart. You hear people talk about it all the time; how a person has a big heart. The pink ones cause it to expand, and the black ones cause it to contract. The more pink Core Love Bubbles there are, the bigger it gets. The more black ones there are, the smaller it gets. Watch."

She took out one of the pink ones, and the giant heart shrank. Putting it back caused it to expand back to its normal size. She then removed a black one, causing the heart to grow bigger, then put that one back as well, and the heart shrank back to its original size once more.

"It's size depends on how much love and hate Riley has in her heart," she explained.

Joy bent down to look at the Core Love Bubbles, reaching for a pink one. "That's so cool- OW!"

She touched one of the pink ones and pulled her hands back as it burned her finger.

"Careful," Love insisted. "You shouldn't touch Core Love Bubbles without gloves. These are the things Riley loves and hates the most, so the temperature is either really hot or really cold."

"Why?" Joy asked, popping the burnt digit into her mouth.

"Oh, for the love of…" Hate grumbled. "Why do you think really nice people are called warm-hearted and cruel people are called cold-hearted?"

"I guess that makes sense," Joy replied, waving her stinging finger. "Mind if I touch one of the black ones?"

Love glanced at a black Core Love Bubble. "Only if you want your finger to freeze off." She went over to the control panel and pressed a button. A recall tube dropped off a black one that had been on a shelf in the Hall of Hearts, which she handed to Joy. "Here, this should help."

Joy pressed her finger against it. It was as cold as ice, relieving the sting. "Much better." She glanced at the pink Core Love Bubble she had touched. "Boy, that one was really hot."

Love smiled. "It shows the intensity of Riley's love, and her love is burning brightly."

"What was it for?" Sadness asked.

"Look for yourself," Hate snapped.

She did so, seeing the image inside. "Oh, hockey."

She looked at the one next to it, seeing Riley's parents. This one was pink as well, but it also contained a small stripe of black on it.

"Hey," she said, "why does the one with parents have some hate in it?"

Love bent down beside her to look. "Well, Riley obviously loves her parents, but there are some things about them that she hates. Sometimes they embarrass her in public, or sometimes they can be a little unfair about things, and sometimes they just plain drive her crazy, as all parents do to there kids. Like all kids, she really hates those little tidbits about them, but she still loves them a lot. Likewise, even certain things that Riley hates have a bit of love in them. Like this one."

She pointed at a black one that was about a 25 percent pink. In it was the same image of the Core Memory Nostalgic, the one that powered the Island of Change and Loss that came to be when Riley ended up crying in school just after the move.

Back up in Headquarters, the Core Memory of this moment was mostly blue, but also contained some yellow. The change in Riley's life from the move and the loss of everything she knew and loved back in Minnesota was a cause for great sadness, hence the blue. But it also presented opportunity, allowing Riley to experience opportunity, experience new things, and make new friends as she began a new adventure in her life. It also brought her closer to her parents in a way she didn't have before. These positive things change brought forth provided a new type of joy, and were the reason it was partly yellow.

Similarly, the love and hate for this moment of change and loss were mixed. Riley had hated losing so much of her old life, but at the same time, she loved all the opportunity the change in her life brought her. And the Core Love Bubble before them reflected that with its mixture of black and pink coloring.

"Huh," said Fear. "It really is a lot like Headquarters."

Love nodded enthusiastically. "Yup, and it's all wonderful. Oh, but this one, this one is my favorite."

She picked up a pink orb, her gloves protecting her from its intense heat. The Emotions looked at it, and Joy gasped. "It's Jordan!"

Love smiled. "Yup. Call me a romantic, but this one-"

"This is great!" Joy cried. "That means I.B. hasn't succeeded in breaking them up."

Love looked surprised. "Um, no they haven't broken up. But even if they did, it doesn't mean that Riley would stop loving him."

Hate crossed his arms. "Why would they break up anyway? Because of the fight they had?"

Love returned the Core Love Bubble to the container and placed her hands on her hips, giving Anger the stink eye. "Yeah, what was up with that anyway? Why'd you make Riley so mad at Jordan for no reason? He didn't schedule the gig during her game. I mean, I can understand her being upset, but did you have to make her  _that_  angry?"

The red Emotion began sputtering. "That wasn't me! That was that stupid I.B.!"

Hate raised an eyebrow. "Who's this I.B. person?"

Joy grinned nervously. "Riiiiight. See, he's kind of the reason why we ended up here. To put it simply, he's, uh… Well, he's, uh…"

"He's a rogue imaginary character that kicked us out of Headquarters and took over," Sadness told them bluntly.

Joy stared at her for a moment before shrugging. "Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

The black and pink Emotions stared at them. Hate reacted first, his expression twisting into one of distaste. "Are you kidding me? First, how could an imaginary character go rogue like that? Is that even possible? Second, how could you let an imaginary character take over Headquarters like that? They're not even supposed to  _be_  any imaginary characters in Headquarters. I hate when people don't follow the rules!"

Love placed a calming hand on his shoulder; she was very good at making him relax. "How did this happen?" she asked worriedly.

Fear gave a nervous laugh. "It's kind of a long story."

"A long  _sad_  story," Disgust grumbled, giving Sadness a look of disapproval, causing the blue Emotion to look down shamefully.

Neither Love nor Hate seemed to catch the green Emotion's indication. "Why would an imaginary character take over Headquarters?" the former wondered out loud.

Joy took a deep breath. "Well, I guess it all started when Riley and Jordan officially became boyfriend and girlfriend…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Well, that was fun. So who liked Love and Hate? How about Heartquarters? It's similar to Headquarters, but different. I'll be going into further details of how things work next chapter, and reveal how the two places connect and affect each other. The real question is, will Love and Hate be able to help the Emotions? Keep reading to find out. Also, who spotted the Easter Egg? I thought it was fairly obvious, but still, props if you find it.)


	12. Old Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Wooh-hoo. Back again. Was looking forward to this next part almost as much as introducing Love, Hate, and Heartquarters. I must say, it's a lot of fun making up these 'worlds' and incorporating things into them. You'll see what I mean in this chapter when I offer an explanation for the reason why the control panel was turning black towards the end of the movie. Don't want to give too much away, so read on. And congrats to those that spotted the Frozen Easter Egg last chapter, though I guess it was pretty obvious. No Easter Eggs in this chapter though, sorry.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Chapter 11: Old Memories**

"And so he dropped us down here," Joy concluded. She looked around curiously. "Actually, I didn't even know this place was here."

Love giggled. "Some memories live on in your heart, so we occasionally get delivers that contain copies of certain memories. You fell through the mail shoot where they're delivered. Other than that, the head and the heart don't really interact with each other during childhood. Kids tend to think with their heads instead of their hearts until they get older. That's why we haven't interacted before now." She shook her head. "But that's not important right now. This I.B. person sounds like a real problem."

"Yeah, I hate people like him," Hate grumbled. He gave Love a look. "You realize what this could lead to if he isn't stopped."

Love gasped and ran over to the window, pressing herself against the glass as she looked at the giant heart. "You're right! This could lead to heartbreak!"

Anger raised an eyebrow. "Heartbreak?"

The pink Emotion turned back to them, looking worried. "This could break Riley's heart. The generator for the heart can start to malfunction under certain circumstances, like getting dumped, or losing a loved one. If Riley's heart breaks, she'll be completely cut off from feeling anything. She'll fall into a depressive, unfeeling, emotionless state until we can repair the damage and get her heart working again. And there's no telling how long that could take; it depends on the extent of the damage."

"There was some damage to it back when Riley tried to run away two years ago," Hate told them, "but we managed to repair it before it became anything serious. Fortunately, whatever was causing the heartbreak was stopped before it became a real problem."

Anger, Fear, and Disgust looked away, recalling that it had been their fault for putting the idea to run away from home in Riley's head. At least now they knew why the control panel had stopped working back then and had started to turn black. Sadness getting the idea out of her head must have stopped the damage being done to Riley's heart, allowing Love and Hate, or whoever was in charge of repairs, to fix the damage.

Unwilling to bring up past mistakes, Joy attempted to address the current problem. "We just need to get back up to the mind and figure out a way back into Headquarters."

Love tapped her chin. "That could be difficult. Things go into the heart, but they don't generally go out."

Fear panicked. "Are you saying there's no way out of here?"

Hate scoffed. "Of course there are ways out, but when you love or hate something, you generally feel that way about it for a long time, and we need to get you guys out of her heart as fast as possible. Which leaves only one option."

He shared a look with Love, who clapped her hands. "Of course, that'll work! We could send them straight to Riley's Subconscious."

Joy's face fell. She immediately looked at Sadness, who was mirroring her horrified expression. "Riley's Subconscious?" the blue Emotion asked. "The place where they keep all of Riley's deepest fears? Like Jangles?"

Hate growled. "I hate that stupid clown."

"Yes," Love replied in regards to Sadness' question, "but her Subconscious isn't just a place for her deepest fears. It also connects to her heart."

Joy looked surprised. "How so?"

Hate threw his hands on the air. "Oh, for the love of… Do you need to have  _everything_  explained to you?"

Happy to explain, the pink Emotion ignored him. "Have you never heard of speaking from your heart? You literally just talk without thinking, saying what you truly feel. It comes from here," she tapped her chest, "not from here," she tapped her head. "And sometimes the things in your heart are feelings you're not even aware of, because they're locked in your Subconscious. So there's a spot that connects the heart to the Subconscious."

The Emotions shared a look. When no one protested, Joy turned back to Love. "Ok, lets do it. Where do we go?"

Hate cracked his knuckles, grinning evilly. "Alrighty then. Follow me."

The black and pink Emotions led them to a different area. Love skipped merrily ahead, stopping beside what appeared to be a large tank connected to a recall tube. Hate walked up beside her and opened the door to the tank. "Ok, get in."

The Emotions hesitated. Anger crossed his arms, giving Love and Hate suspicious looks. "What is this?"

Not bothered by his grumpiness, Love patted the tank. "This will send you to the Sea of Subconscious Thought."

Disgust gave her a strange look. "The Sea of who now?"

Hate sighed in aggravation. "Ok, listen up, 'cause I'm only going to explain this once. In Riley's Subconscious, there's a place called the Sea of Subconscious Thought. It's where all of Riley's subconscious thoughts and feelings are gathered. The Sea breaks off into several rivers called Rivers of Repression, each one relating to a certain aspect of Riley's life that she's not aware of because it's all being held back by the Dams of Dulled Emotion."

Fear looked confused. "I don't get it."

Love hurried over to him, wrapping an arm around the purple Emotion. "You hear about stuff like this all the time. People are known to keep certain things bottled up inside, but then something happens or they come to a realization. That's when the Dam of Dulled Emotion breaks, and everything that person was feeling into relation to that topic comes spilling out in a massive flood. Sometimes it becomes so much that you can't stop yourself from expressing or speaking what you're feeling. But once a Dam breaks, it becomes a Floodgate of Feeling, able to be opened and closed at will. That's pretty much how the process works."

Fear looked uncomfortable with Love's close proximity. Anger stared at her, dumbfounded, before glancing at the other Emotions. "Did any of you follow any of that?"

Hate sighed impatiently. "The Sea of Subconscious consists of Riley's deepest most subconscious thoughts and feelings. Think of what happened after Riley ran away from home. When Sadness finally let her feel sad, one of the Dams broke down and everything she had kept bottled up came spilling out. That's when she finally confessed what she was really feeling to her parents. Once it was all out, the Floodgates closed, and everything was all hunky-dory, but she'll still talk about it from time to time because she can now open that Floodgate at will. Get it now?"

He knocked on the tank. "There are times where Love and I need to send certain matters of the heart into the Sea of Subconscious. If you get in here, we'll be able to send you there without issue."

Even Joy seemed uncertain. Glancing at her fellow Emotions, she saw that they were too. But at Love's enthusiastic expression and Hate's impatient look, she pushed aside the concerns that Fear was obviously projecting onto her. "I like this plan! Let's give it a shot."

Fear's eyes bugged out. "What? You're actually willing to get tossed into the Sea of Subconscious?"

"Hey," she said with a shrug, "I jumped off a tower of imaginary boyfriends, onto a trampoline on the collapsing Family Island to bounce out over the Memory Dump, catching Sadness, and crashing into Headquarters. This is nothing."

Love clapped her hands. "Sounds exciting."

"Well, when compared to that…" Anger mumbled, and stepped into the tank.

Joy entered next, followed by Sadness. Disgust sighed irritably, muttering how this had better not ruin her hair. Fear seemed frozen to the spot, so before he had a chance to run away, Disgust grabbed his curl of hair and pulled him inside.

Hate slammed the door shut and dusted off his hands. "So long, and good riddance."

"He means good luck," Love told them. "It was lovely meeting you. Hope we see you again."

"Speak for yourself," Hate growled, pulling a lever.

The tank began rapidly filling up with water, or what seemed to be water. The Emotions cried out as they were submerged. While they couldn't drown, the fear of drowning that all humans shared was something they had inherited from Riley, and they splashed around in desperation, made all the worse as Fear's own panic reflected onto them.

"Let us out!" he shouted as he pounded at the door, only to find it locked.

Love gave him a thumbs up. "It's all good."

Once the tank was full, she pushed a button. The tube attached to the tank opened, sucking up the water and everything in the tank, including the Emotions.

Love smiled as she watched them disappear up the tube. Once they were gone, she turned to Hate. "Well, they seemed nice."

The black Emotion just scoffed. "Whatever."

She looked back at the tube. "I hope we see them again."

" _You_  do," Hate told her. "I hate entertaining people."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Riley was an emotional wreck when she got home. Her thoughts and feelings were all over the place. She didn't know what she was thinking, she didn't know what she was feeling, but she certainly didn't feel like herself. All she knew was that she didn't like the way she was right now. It all felt so wrong, and her mood swings weren't helping.

I.B. had to admit, this wasn't exactly going as planned. Being at the controls was one thing, but trying to force Riley to think and feel a certain way that was different from her nature and personality was rather difficult.

He tried to focus on his main objective, which was breaking up Riley and Jordan. And now he had something he could work with, Riley and Jordan's first major fight as a couple. He decided to steer her thoughts towards hockey, and how upset she would be to not have Jordan at her game.

This was how Riley found herself in the attic, going through the boxes her parents had stored up here. Amongst the boxes were some of Riley's things from when she was a small child. She opened one of the boxes, finding some of her stuff from when she was much younger.

Among the items in this particular box was her old hockey gear. She had started playing when she was very young, and none of this stuff fit her anymore, but was kept because of the sentimental value they possessed for her and her parents. Here was her old hockey mask. And here was her helmet, and her skates. And the first hockey stick she ever had, now snapped in half from a little accident.

A smile grazed her lips as she went through her old things. She really loved hockey, it was very important to her. And even though she had been playing for nearly her entire life, her team had never won a championship match. This was the closest she had ever gotten, and she had wanted Jordan to be there to give her the courage and strength to win. Couldn't he understand that?

I.B. shook his head and  _tsked_. "Shame on you, Jordan, letting Riley down like that." He glanced at the light bulb plugged into the control panel that contained the idea for Riley to break up with Jordan. Much to his irritation, she still had not accepted it yet. "It's just a matter of time."

Riley glanced back into the box, seeing more things from when she was little. Curious, she began going through the box's contents, reminiscing about things from years past.

Inside, she found a folded up piece of paper. When she unfolded it, she saw a crudely drawn picture of what appeared to be a pink elephant siting on a red square with rainbow streaks coming out the back. Beneath the drawing were the words  _BiNG BONG_ , the letters N's having been written backwards.

Riley raised an eyebrow at the image. She must have been  _really_  young when she drew this. She had no recollection of it at all though. Was she really this bad at drawing when she was younger?

"Hey, monkey, what are you doing up here?"

Riley turned to find her father poking his head up through the entrance to the attic. "Oh, hey, Dad. Just going through some old stuff."

Climbing up the ladder, her father sat down beside her, looking at the box she was going through. "Boy, this sure takes me back. Look, here's your first tooth. Your old hockey mask. And look, your old security blanket."

"Yeah, why did you guys keep that?"

Mr. Anderson chuckled. "We also kept your old pacifier too. See."

He held up a plastic bag containing what was indeed a pacifier. Riley made a disturbed face and scooted back a bit. "Why would you keep  _that?"_

He chuckled. "They have sentimental value, I guess you could say."

She rolled her eyes. "Are you going to keep my braces too once they're taken off?"

It had meant to be a joke, but her father looked serious. "Actually, your mother and I considered putting them in a picture frame with the message 2 ½ years beneath them."

Riley looked horrified at the thought. "Please, tell me you're kidding."

He chuckled. "You'll understand when you have children of your own one day. Hey!" He pulled a book labeled  _Baby's Firsts_  out of the box. "It's your first times book. You want to look at it?"

Knowing the contents of that book were ground for humiliation, Riley desperately waved her arms in front of her. "No way!"

Mr. Anderson's eyes were drawn to the paper in her hand. "Hey, what'cha got there?" When she handed him the paper, he smiled at the image. "Oh, it's Bing Bong, your old imaginary friend."

Riley raised an eyebrow. "I had an imaginary friend?"

Her father chuckled. "You certainly did. If I remember correctly, he was part elephant, part cat, part dolphin, and part cotton candy."

She gave a snort of laughter. "Part cotton candy?"

"He was your imaginary friend, sweetheart, not mine. According to you, he also cried candy."

Another eye roll. "Oh, come on, you're making that up."

Smiling, he shook his head. "No, it's true. You even had your own little theme song for him to power his magic rocket.  _Who's your friend who likes to play? Bing Bong, Bing Bong! His rocket makes you yell 'Hooray'! Bing Bong, Bing Bong! Who's the best in every way, and wants to sing this song to say, Bing Bong, Bing Bong!"_

Riley stared, completely dumbfounded. "Oh my gosh, you actually remember something like that?"

With a small smile, he tapped her nose. "I certainly do. You sure sang it enough."

He handed the picture back to her. She took another look at it, frowning when she came up with nothing. "I really have no recollection of any of this, like at all."

"Well," her father replied, "you were really young. That's actually why we hang onto these things, so we can think back and remember." His smile became a curious frown. "So what made you want to look at this stuff?"

Riley wondered if she should tell him. Usually, she preferred to have her parents butt out of her relationship with Jordan. She didn't want to get into the fact that they were having a fight over him skipping her semi-finals game. No, not skipping, being too busy to come.

"Don't sugarcoat it," I.B. argued against Riley's reasoning. "He's not going to the game. Period. It doesn't matter why."

She decided to at least mention part of what was bothering her. "The game, I guess. We're so close to the championship. One more win and we play the  _Bladers_  for the title."

Her father's face lit up at that. "I know, it's so exciting. I know you guys can do it. How can  _The Foghorns_  not win with my little all-star on the team? Go  _Foghorns!"_

Riley cracked a smile. At least her parents would be there for her. If only Jordan could be too.

Inside her head, I.B. gave an irritated groan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: A little shorter than I would have liked, but that's because this chapter and last were almost one chapter. So, this time we got to see a little more of Heartquarters. I also provided an explanation for how and why the control panel was malfunctioning in the movie. I hope I explained things clearly enough. Riley's heartbreak over the situation with her parents when she ran away caused the heart in Heartquarters to become damaged, which in turn prevented the control panel from working, so the Emotions couldn't make her feel anything. They'll be more on that later though. The Emotions may have left, but we haven't seen the last of Heartquarters, or of Love and Hate. Right now, they're taking a bit of a water ride if the Sea of Subconscious. Will this help them get back to Headquarters, or just get them more lost? We can only wait and see.)


	13. The Subconscious

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Another fun chapter to write. I got to work a little bit with Riley's imagination a bit. You'll see what I mean when you read it.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Chapter 12: The Subconscious**

Gargled cries emitted from the Emotions' mouths as they were sucked up the tube. This was one ride they didn't want to repeat, and really hoped would end soon.

Like a drainpipe pouring into a large body of water, the Emotions were spat out of the tube. They splashed down into a river and were immediately swept away by the current, which wasn't much of an improvement over getting sucked through the tube.

Joy kicked for the surface. Her movements stirred up a series of bubbles around her, and she saw reflecting in them images of Riley's subconscious thoughts and feelings that she had yet to realize herself.

Breaking the surface, she looked around, spotting the other Emotions swimming close by. She saw that they were in what seemed to be a canal of some sort. She realized that this must be the Sea of Subconscious.

Along the sides of the canal, she spotted ladders hanging down the sides, and she called to her fellow Emotions. "Come on, this way!"

She and Disgust swam for the nearest ladder as Sadness doggy-paddled after them. Anger was left to tread water as Fear clung to him, wailing all the while, even as the red Emotion climbed the ladder.

"Get off me!" he snarled once they were on dry land, and Fear yelped as Anger's head ignited, jumping away from the flames.

Ignoring them, Joy looked down at the river. The 'water' was multicolored, as if it were oily, only the colors were much more vibrant and noticeable. And further down the river, she saw that it branched off into different directions, the water of each branch different shades of the same color, and even those branches broke off into even more branches into single shades of the same color.

"Uch, my hair is a mess," Disgust grumbled, ringing out her green locks. "What is the one thing I said I didn't want to happen? Not to mess up my hair. Just look at it." She looked around with a scowl on her face. "Where are we?"

"Weren't you listening?" Anger growled. "We're in Riley's Subconscious."

"It's fine," Joy assured them. "Sadness and I have been here before. This is where we found Jangles."

The color instantly drained from Fear's face. "J-J-Jangles…?" He fell back in a dead faint.

"Don't pass out here!" Anger snapped. He lifted the unconscious Emotion and began slapping him. "Wake up, you useless nitwit!"

Joy sighed. "Just carry him. We've got to get back up to Headquarters."

"Yeah, just one problem," Disgust pointed out as she placed a hand on her hip and waved around a finger. "I.B. still isn't going to let us in. We're just back to where we were before." She glanced around the Subconscious. "More or less."

Sadness flopped facedown on the ground. "It's hopeless. We're doomed."

"We're not doomed," Joy insisted. "Think positive. And don't say that you're positive that we're doomed."

"Ok, how about I'm positive we're finished."

She ignored the blue Emotion. "If we can't get I.B. to let us in, then we'll just have to break in."

"Oh, great," Anger snarled. "How exactly are we supposed to break in?"

That was a good question. Perhaps there was something in Imagination Land that could help. Or maybe she was just being extreme and breaking in wasn't necessary. If I.B. thought they were stuck in Heartquarters, maybe he would lower his defenses. Perhaps he even removed the blank slate and they could take a recall tube. If not, they could possible take the train back up and hope I.B. was no longer checking deliveries.

But if either of those plans failed, then their only option left would be to walk across the platforms of the Islands of Personalities that hung over the Memory Dump. But that was very dangerous, and even if they did make it across, how were they supposed to climb up the tall support beam of Headquarters and then break inside once they reached the top?

Thinking about it, when that had been her plan two years ago when she and Sadness had gotten lost, it hadn't been all that well thought out. How exactly had she planned on getting up there in the first place, especially with her arms full of Core Memories?

"Uch," came Disgust's complaining groan, bring the yellow Emotion out of her thoughts. "What is that smell? It smells like broccoli."

That was probably the giant broccoli tree, Joy recalled. She remembered coming across it and the much scarier version of the stairs to Riley's grandmother's basement when they went searching for Bing Bong after Jangles took him away.

Her face suddenly lit up. "That's it! Jangles! He can help us!"

The others turned to her. "What are you blabbing about?" Anger demanded.

"Jangles the Clown," Joy explained. "He's one of Riley's earliest fears. Sadness and I found him the last time we were here."

"Um, yeah, we know who he is," said Disgust. "You mentioned finding him here too. So what's your point?"

"We can use him to help us get back to Headquarters!"

The others stared. Cutting her eyes and crossing her arms, Disgust glared at her. "Ok, you are out of your mind."

"Yeah," Anger agreed. "Just how is that candy-gobbling freak supposed to help us?"

A little too enthusiastically, Joy began explaining. "Jangles isn't a bad guy; Riley's just afraid of him. All we have to do is tell him that there's a party up in Headquarters and he needs to get there to see the birthday girl. Then we can ride on his shoulders as he climbs up to Headquarters King Kong style. He smashes his way through the window so we can get in, and we tell him that I.B. ruined the party, but can show him where another one is in Imagination Land. Jangles grabs I.B., takes him to Imagination Land with him, and we get everything back to normal."

Anger and Disgust were staring at her, completely flabbergasted. Even Sadness was looking up at her from the floor with a raised eyebrow.

"You're right," the red Emotion told Disgust, "she's completely lost it."

Disgust nodded. "Mmm hmm, totally."

Joy sighed. "Guys, come on. We're seriously running out of options and time. I.B. could make Riley and Jordan break up at any moment. We have to do something."

The other three Emotions shared a look. Finally, Sadness spoke. "Well, we're doomed either way, so we might as well try it."

Disgust scoffed. "Whatever. At this point, I don't even care anymore."

"Fine!" Anger growled. "I'll wake Fear." He marched over to the purple Emotion again and gave him a sharp kick in the side. "Hey, wake up!"

Fear grunted and his eyes cracked open. "Ooh, what happened?" He sat up. "What's going on?"

"We're going to find Jangles," the red Emotion replied impatiently. "Now come one, let's go."

This was apparently the wrong thing to say. It took a few seconds for Anger's words to register to him, but once they did, Fear fainted again.

"Oh, come on!" Anger bellowed.

"Just bring him," said Joy. "We have to get a move on. Sadness, get up."

The blue Emotion grumbled. "I can't, I'm too sad."

She rolled onto her back and lifted her leg. Joy sighed, taking hold of her ankle and began dragging her. Anger looked at Disgust expectantly, but the green Emotion just held up her hands, closed her eyes, and walked after Joy and Sadness. Grinding his teeth irritably, Anger threw the unconscious Fear over his shoulder and went after them.

It wasn't that hard to find the broccoli tree, they just had to follow their noses. Once they found it, there was the distinct laughter of the giant clown nearby. The laughter got louder and louder as they followed it, eventually came across Riley's embodiment of her fear of clowns.

There was just one problem. It seemed that after the clown's last escape, more precautions had been made. A metal cuff was clamped around his ankle, attached to a ball and chain far too big for even the giant clown to move. He didn't seem bothered by it as he happily juggled, but he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

"Great," Anger grumbled. "So much for that plan."

Sadness finally got to her feet. "Maybe there's another fear we can use."

"What'd you have in mind?" Joy asked.

The blue Emotion pointed. Joy looked at what she was pointing at, and gulped. It was one of Riley's childhood fears from when she was younger. She may have gotten over it as she grew older, but the remnants of that fear still remained buried deep in her Subconscious.

It was a giant bed, but that wasn't what was frightening. It was what lay beneath it. It was a common childhood fear, but nearly every child was afraid of the monster in the closet, or in the attic, or in the basement, or under the sink, or whatever. In fact, one of Riley's friends at school claimed that they used to have a monster in their closet that used to scare them, but was later replaced by one that tried to make her laugh. Riley wasn't sure she believed that though. And while she had never been afraid of anything in her closet, for her, there had been a point in time where she had feared the monster under the bed.

Disgust held up her hands. "Whoa, whoa, hold up. Jangles is one thing, but I'm drawing the line at the monster under the bed."

Under normal circumstances, Joy would have wholeheartedly agreed, but she was getting desperate. This wasn't like the time she and Sadness had gotten lost and couldn't be there for Riley when she needed them. I.B. was actually keeping them away, and was out to sabotage Riley's love life. They'd wasted too much time already. They had to get back up to Headquarters, now.

"We have no choice," she said with determination. "Riley needs us."

"Fine," Anger grumbled stubbornly, dropping the purple Emotion on the floor, "then you go get it."

His suggestion sent a nervous shiver through her. On her own, Joy wouldn't really feel fear, that was Fear's purpose, but since this was something Riley had been afraid of, that fear was projecting onto her, even though it was an old childhood fear.

But Riley needed her, and Joy was determined to see this through. "Ok…"

Gulping, she took a deep breath and hesitantly approached the giant bed. The underside was pitch black, as if all the shadows and darkness had gathered there, hiding the monster beneath it. She got as close as she dared, not wanting to get within the monster's reach. Now she just had to lure the beast out.

As long as Riley's parents had been in the room, the monster wouldn't come out, or so she had believed. But as soon as they kissed her goodnight and left, that's when it came out, and the only safe place had been under the covers.

Struggling to find her voice, Joy called out into the darkness the words she knew would draw the monster out. "G-Goodnight, Mom! Good night, Dad! I love you! See you in the morning!"

And then, just for good measure, she made a sound similar to a door creaking shut. Then she fell silent and waited, staring into the darkness. She couldn't see anything, but she could hear breathing.

"Joy…" Sadness whispered worriedly.

The yellow Emotion looked back at her. As if waiting for her to turn away, a pair of bright red eyes opened and became visible in the darkness.

"Joy!" Sadness shouted, this time in panic as she pointed behind her.

Joy spun around as a large clawed hand, both scaly and hairy, shot out. She jumped aside as the hand slammed down where she had been, grabbing nothing but air. She scrambled back to her fellow Emotions as the monster emerged. Mostly green in color, it resembled a scaly toad, with a yellow lion-like mane and a series of spikes going down its back. It had long hairy arms that reached for the Emotions as it crept forward on short stubby legs barely visible beneath its large striped gut.

The Emotions back away as the monster approached. Its tongue darted over its shark-like teeth, spilling drool down its chin and onto the floor. It eyed them hungrily, its crimson gaze darting from one Emotion to the other.

"So, what was your plan again?" Anger asked as they continued to back away.

Joy seemed uncertain. "Uh, right, the plan." She didn't step forward, but she stopped backing away. "Um, h-hi, Mr. Monster. I don't know if you recognize us, but we're Riley's Emotions. My name is Joy."

Licking its big pudgy lips, the monsters approached. "Pleased to meet you. I am the one hiding under your bed; teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red."

The yellow Emotion gave a very forced smile. "Hey, that rhymes. Real cute. But, you see, um, we kind of need your help, if it's not too much trouble."

The monster grinned, showing off its deadly teeth. "Oh, I'll help alright. Help myself that is."

Joy laughed nervously, once more backing away. "Right, because helping Riley means helping ourselves. Anyway, we need you to help us get into Headquarters. So, if we can convince the guards to let you out for a bit, could you give us a ride up to Headquarters, and maybe help us break in."

The monster continued to grin as it stalked closer. "I'd be happy to give you a ride… In my stomach!"

It charged at them, and the Emotions fled. They ran right over the conscious Fear, who grunted back to consciousness. Dazed, he looked up at the giant monster lumbering towards him on its stumpy legs, and he let out a high-pitched scream and ran after the others.

"Quick, this way!" Joy shouted, hoping she was remembering the right way to the exit.

"Hasn't your judgment gotten us in enough trouble?" Anger demanded as he hurried along.

"She's right," Sadness replied, "the exit is just up ahead! Look there!"

Before them were the giant doors of Riley's Subconscious. Speeding past them, Fear beat the other Emotions to the doors and began pounding on them. "LET US OUT! PLEASE, HELP US!"

A few moments passed and the sound of the lever on the other side of the door being moved was heard. The door creaked open, and a Mind Worker security guard stuck his head in. "What's going on in here?"

"Out of the way!" the Emotions cried as the monster pursued.

They slammed into the door, forcing it open. The security guard was knocked away, as was his partner, as the door slammed into him. They ran out of Subconscious, the monster right behind them.

The moment the monster passed through the door and stepped into the light, it grabbed at its head and roared loudly. It immediately began to shrink and change shape. A moment later, all that remained of the monster was a fuzzy green sweater with a zigzag pattern across the center and a line of red circles above it, and a yellow collar.

The truth had come to light long ago when Riley's father had checked under the bed and found, not a monster, but a fuzzy green sweater. In the dark, hidden in the shadows, Riley could have sworn the zigzag pattern were teeth, and the red circles were eyes. It was so strange how different things looked in the dark.

Taking a moment to catch their breath, the Emotions collapsed to the ground. The security guards were not happy with the situation, especially after having been trampled and knocked over. At first they thought the Emotions had escaped from Subconscious, but after having the situation explained and having their identities confirmed, the five were released. The sweater was tossed back into Subconscious again, and the door was quickly closed as it began to revert back into the monster now that it was in the darkness once more.

"You kids be more careful next time," one of the security guards told them.

Anger stared at the Mind Worker in disbelief. "Kids?!" he roared, his head igniting. "We were around long before you manifested!"

"Please," Fear begged, "just let it go. I can't take anymore excitement right now."

Disgust waved her finger at him. "Um, reality check, we're pretty much back to where we were before; stuck outside Headquarters." She placed her hands on her hips and looked at Joy. "Oh, but I'm sure our so-called leader has another brilliant plan for that."

Anger cut his eyes at the yellow Emotion and asked sarcastically, "Yeah, Joy, what wonderful idea do you have in store for us next?"

They all looked at her, Sadness and Fear with hopeful anticipation, Disgust and Anger with mocking scorn. But a feeling of suddenly being completely overwhelmed hit her, and she slowly slid down the wall she had been leaning against. This whole thing suddenly seemed utterly hopeless. Events were so of her control, and she didn't know how to fix them. I.B. was ruining things for Riley's relationship, and the only way they could reverse the situation was to get back up to Headquarters.

And therein laid the problem. They  _couldn't_  get back up to Headquarters. They weren't even supposed to be out of Headquarters, so why would they even need a way to get back in? True, there were ways they could get there, but I.B. had closed them off. They couldn't take the train, they couldn't use a recall tube, they couldn't climb the tower. What was left?

Realizing that Joy was losing hope, Anger and Disgust's hostility decreased. Fear was beginning to get nervous while Sadness felt for the yellow Emotion.

"Joy…?" she whispered.

It was happening again, just like it had that time in the Memory Dump. Due to I.B.'s interference and his refusal to let the sadness inside Riley be expressed with what was happening with Jordan, it was reflecting onto her, overpowering the happiness that she was.

Pulling her legs up to her chest and hugging them, she buried her face into her knees. "I don't know what to do. I have nothing. I.B. is going to destroy Riley's happiness and fill her with a false sense of contentment; like some drug providing fake happiness. And there's nothing we can do to stop it."

The other Emotions exchanged looks, each of them feeling sympathetic to their co-worker.

"Hey, that's not true," said Anger, sounding unusually calm. "All we have to do is get back to Headquarters and kick I.B.'s imaginary butt, then we can fix all this."

"Yeah," there's got to be another way up there," Disgust added. "We'll get there somehow."

Joy sighed, not looking up. "We might as well be on another planet," she whispered, using the same words a certain imaginary character once spoke.

As she continued to sit there in despair, she became aware of footsteps approaching her, followed by gasps from her fellow Emotions.

"Perhaps I could help with that," said a familiar voice.

Joy tensed. Slowly she looked up, her mouth dropping open in surprise at the sight of the very imaginary character she had just quoted. "Bing Bong?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Ooh, cliffhanger. Is it really Bing Bong? You'll have to wait for next chapter to find out. So, for this chapter, who liked the monster under the bed and how it turned out to just be a sweater? Confession time, I got the idea for it from an old "Rugrats" and "Fairly Odd Parents" episode from long ago where something similar happened. I thought it would work well here. So how'd I do? We also had two Easter Eggs this chapter, though they were a little harder to spot, did anyone find them? The second one is harder and more easily overlooked, but props if you find them both.)


	14. Heartbreak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Hee, hee, I guess last chapters Easter Eggs were a little tougher to spot. Both were in reference to the monster, as Joy is approaching the bed, she reflects on one of Riley's friends having a similar fear of monsters until it stopped trying to scare her and tried to make her laugh instead. That was a reference to "Monsters Inc". The second was what the monster under the bed said when it came out. It was the same line sung by the monster under the bed from "The Nightmare Before Christmas". Good job to those that spotted them. We've got three more Easter Eggs in this chapter.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Chapter 13: Heartbreak**

A smile grazed the newcomer's face. "Nice to see you again, Joy." He waved at the blue Emotion. "Hey, Sadness, it's been ages."

It was indeed the pink, fluffy imaginary character. Well, almost. His body was transparent, as if he were a ghost. More visible around his head and upper body, he seemed to be even more transparent at his lower half, his feet barely visible at all.

"Bing Bong!" Joy shouted happily, jumping up and throwing her arms around him.

A light chuckle escaped the fuzzy elephant-like creature as he patted her back. "I missed you too, Joy. Looks like you're in a bit of a pickle again, huh?"

She pulled away, looking him up and down. "But you're here. How are you here? Riley forgot about you completely; I saw you disappear. But you're back? How? And why are you see-through?"

Bing Bong laughed. "Whoa, one question at a time. To answer you're first one, it seems that Riley came across something that reminded her of me, and presto!"

Joy's face broke out into a grin. "Does that mean she remembered you and you're back to stay?"

The imaginary character's smile faltered, but still remained. "No, just temporarily I'm afraid. Riley doesn't remember me, she just knows about me. But there's no recollection of me at all."

Joy's face fell, and she looked at his transparent body. "Is that why you're not all the way here?"

He nodded sadly. "Afraid so. With no memory of me, I'll soon be forgotten and disappear again without having to go to the Dump. Right now, I'm no different from something Riley saw in a memory. Those memories never last long because they hold no significance to her life. Once that memory is forgotten, I'll vanish with it once more."

Joy felt tears prickle her eyes. "Oh, Bing Bong, I'm so sorry."

To her surprise, the imaginary character smiled. "Ah, it's not so bad. I'll just go back to where everything that Riley forgets goes. It's actually kind of nice. I mean, sure I don't get to be with Riley anymore in the here and now, but I'm surrounded by all of her memories and everything else she's forgotten. In a way, I get to be with the Riley I know, the one from the past when we played together all the time. And new memories that she forgets arrive everyday. We call it the Forgotten Zone. In some ways, it's even better than before, because I'm not just some random forgotten thought leftover from something that happened too long ago for her to remember. It's almost like old times again."

He looked to the other Emotions. "Hey, speaking of old times, I didn't get to meet you three when I ran into Joy and Sadness." He walked over to them, looking at each one curiously. "Let me see if I can guess. You're Anger, you're Disgust, and your Fear.

The green and red Emotions exchanged a bored look. "Gee, what gave us away?" the former muttered sarcastically.

Bing Bong chuckled. "Just a hunch." He wrapped an arm around Sadness. "And how's little blue?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Sadness muttered. "Sorry you were forgotten. I feel like it was all my fault."

"No," Joy said loudly, "it was my fault. We fell into the Memory Dump because of me. I'm sorry, Bing Bong. I'm so, so sorry."

Looking concerned, Bing Bong went back over to her. "Joy, it's ok, really. It was my decision to remain behind. Sure, it's not the same, but things are still pretty good. I've got other forgotten friends to interact with, countless forgotten memories to occupy myself with, and plenty of other forgotten things Riley thought up but eventually forgot about. Remember when the Mind Workers destroyed Princess Dream Castle and tossed the pieces in the Dump? Well, that's in the Forgotten Zone now too. I live there with my girlfriend."

Five mouths dropped open at this revelation. "Wait, you have a girlfriend?" Anger demanded.

"Sure, and you know her quite well. It's Rainbow Unicorn."

"What?!" Joy shouted, truly astonished.

Bing Bong's cheeks turned red in what was clearly a blush. "Yeah, we kind of hooked up after she arrived."

A look of understanding crossed Sadness' face. "Oh, so that's why she doesn't appear in Riley's dreams anymore."

Bing Bong sighed. "Yes, unfortunately Riley 'outgrew' her," he said, making quotations with his fingers. "She got less and less roles to play in Dream Productions, until they eventually had to let her go. In her despair, unable to accept that her career was over, she threw herself into the Memory Dump. After she was forgotten, the two of us met and eventually got together. She can be rather vain and stuck-up at times, but we get along great."

Anger held up his hands. "Ok, this is just too weird. Bing Bong, it's nice to have you back, for however long it lasts, but we've got more important things to worry about, like, oh, I don't know," his head ignited, "finding a way back into Headquarters before I.B,'s interference completely ruins Riley's relationship, and breaks her heart!"

The imaginary character's eyes widened. "Ooooh, yeah, that's pretty serious. You know, I saw a few memories of Jordan that appeared in the Forgotten Zone after they were thrown out. He seems like a really nice boy." He suddenly looked confused. "But, um, who's I.B.?"

As Anger threw his hands in the air and screamed in aggravation as the others quickly explained the situation. Bing Bong nodded in understanding as they concluded their tale. "I see. Yes, that is a problem. We need to get you guys back to Headquarters, a.s.a.p."

"Yeah, no kidding, Ding Dong," Disgust mocked. "Yet therein lies the problem. I.B. won't let us back in."

But Bing Bong just smiled. "Not to worry. I said I could help with that. Follow me."

He led them away, Joy eagerly following while the others dragged their feet, uncertain of how much they could depend on the eccentric imaginary character.

They eventually came to Imagination Land. At first they thought that Bing Bong was going to suggest using something here to get to Headquarters, but it was such a big place that it could take them forever to find something useful.

Bing Bong, however, found what he was looking for right away. "Ta-da!"

Sadness pointed. "Hey, isn't that your rocket?"

The imaginary character nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, seems like whatever Riley saw that reminded her of me also reminded her of my rocket. You can use it to fly right up to Headquarters."

Joy bit her bottom lip, looking uncomfortable. "Um, Bing Bong, that's a good idea, but remember what happened the last time we tried to use it. It didn't really work that well. It couldn't even carry the two of us. How is it going to carry all five of us? We'll just end up falling into the Dump."

Bing Bong waved his hand. "No, no, no. It wasn't working before because Riley had all but forgotten about it. Now that she's been reminded of it, it's still fresh, so it's got some of its juice back. Watch." He turned to the rocket, that was really nothing more than a red wagon with cardboard wings and two broomsticks attached to it, and began singing.  _"Who's your friend who likes to play? Bing Bong, Bing-"_

He stopped singing, but only because a stream of rainbow burst from the back of the rocket from out of the ends of the broomsticks, causing it to shoot forward and run him over.

"See, it works like a charm." He got up and dusted himself off. "As long as the rocket remains in Riley's thoughts, it should run just fine. But once she forgets about me, it too will disappear, so you better hurry."

Disgust cut her eyes at him. "Do we really have to sing that stupid song to make it fly?"

"Oh, no, any song will do. The more prominent the song is to Riley, the greater the power."

Joy went over to the green Emotion and nudged her. "Come on, it's a good song. Real catchy."

Disgust just rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Anger held up a finger. "Just one problem." His head ignited. "How exactly do you expect all five of us to fit in that little thing?"

Bing Bong just smiled. "Don't worry, I have a plan for that too."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

The doorbell rang, but Riley ignored it as she worked on her homework for the lesson on the Salem Witch Trials they were learning about. She was currently reading a case from a few hundred years ago where a woman suspected of being a witch had kidnapped a princess and locked her in a tower, or so the records indicated. It was better than the one with the witch whose skills revolved solemnly around bears.

She clicked off an ad stating how  _Buy Yogurt_  was being upgraded to  _Buy & Large_ as the doorbell rang again. Her mother answered the door, and a few seconds later called up to her. "Riley, Jordan's here to see you!"

I.B. frowned. "Jordan? What does he want? Oh, right, they had a date planned for today." A smirk crept up his face as his fingers crept over Anger's controls. "I think we should feel annoyed by this."

Riley scowled and replied, "I'm doing my homework."

"What?"

Another flash of annoyance flowed through her. "Fine, I'm coming."

"Yes," said I.B., glancing at the break up idea plugged into the control panel that she still had not accepted, "lets end this once and for all."

Mrs. Anderson waited by the door for Riley to come down. Her smile faltered when she saw the scowl on her daughters' face. She glanced at Jordan and noticed that the boy seemed uneasy. Her mind began to buzz as her own Emotions analyzed the situation and tried to come up with the best course of action.

"You girls see this, don't you?" her Sadness asked.

"Oh, we see it, alright," said her Joy. "What is up with her? Riley's usually so happy to see Jordan."

Her Disgust tapped a finger against her chin, and suddenly gasped. "Wait, I recognize this! The scowl on her face, the uneasy look on Jordan's. This is like when we and the husband argue."

Her Fear inhaled sharply. "Could this be their first fight as an official couple?"

"Well, that would certainly explain a lot," her Anger replied, motioning to the screen. "Remember ours with the husband?"

They broke out in chatter, talking loudly amongst themselves. Finally, her Sadness raised her hands. "Ok, everyone, calm down. The first fight is an important part in any relationship. We should monitor the situation, offer advice when needed, and help guide her through it. They'll work things out on their own. Lets just act natural and stay out of their way for now."

Mrs. Anderson smiled and clapped her hands together. "Well, I'll leave you two alone. Peace out, my posies."

Riley rolled her eyes at her mother's attempt to sound hip before the older woman strolled out of the room. Riley turned to Jordan and crossed her arms as she fixed him with a glare. Jordan offered her a nervous smile in return and held out a flower to her. She hesitated before taking it, but continued to glare.

Still looking uneasy, Jordan scratched the back of his head. "I didn't know if we were still on for tonight."

"I have homework," she told him coldly. "Gotta do a report on different cases of people accused of witchcraft throughout history."

Jordan looked away. "Oh. I wasn't sure after what happened in school if you still want to do something tonight, and you wouldn't answer my texts."

I.B. sighed in aggravation. "It's called the cold shoulder. Riley doesn't need someone like you in her life."

"I turned my phone off so I wouldn't bet distracted," Riley replied.

This made I.B. frown. "Why are you offering him an explanation?" He pressed a button. "Get angry."

She felt her anger spark, but she said nothing more.

Jordan glanced at her again. "I'm sorry about earlier today. I really do want to go to your game."

Riley felt some of her anger drain away, much to I.B.'s frustration as he attempted to keep it bubbling. "Then will you come?" she asked hopefully.

Jordan fidgeted. "I told you, I really can't. The gig. It's really important."

Scowling, I.B. decided to change tactics and switched over to Sadness' controls.

"So is my game," Riley insisted disappointingly.

"Yeah, I know. I'm not saying it's not. And I want to be there for it-"

"It's not just being there to see the game," she interrupted, suddenly feeling like crying. "It's about being there for  _me_. I've never come this close to a championship game. I'm really nervous. I would have thought you'd want to be there to support me."

Jordan looked shocked. "I  _do_  want to be there for you. I wish I could be, but the guys need me. I  _can't_  blow them off. They won't be able to do the gig without me. Don't you understand?"

A sneer spread across I.B.'s face. "Ooh, bad choice of words," he said pressing a button. "Don't you know that in a relationship that the girl is  _always_  right? That's standard dating 101."

Riley's sadness quickly gave way to anger. "So you care more about your friends then you do about me then?"

He shook his head. "No, come on. Why do you keep saying that?" He began to sound like he was getting frustrated. "You're really being unreasonable-"

"Don't tell me I'm being unreasonable!" she shouted.

Jordan took a step back. "I didn't mean it like that. But, Riley, you can play your game whether I show up to watch it or not. My band  _can't_  play without me. I know, the situation sucks, but cut me some slack."

"Some slack? All I ask is that you come to offer your support for me in the semi-finals. You're sister's playing too; you should be there for her as well."

Jordan threw is hands in the air. "And I keep telling you, I can't. My friends need me. And I also need the money."

She rolled her eyes. "Right, the money. What could be so important that you need to buy? Something for your band?"

He shook his head. "No, it's… Well… I can't say."

I.B. was grinning broadly, and he began pressing buttons. "Perfect, now lets go in for the kill."

Riley felt her temper snap as she threw the flower back at him. "Well, if you need money so bad, then maybe you shouldn't have spent it on this!"

She slammed the door in his face and stormed up the stairs to her room. From around the corner, her mother watched in concern. "Oh, dear."

In her head, her Emotions were equally as worried.

"Well, this isn't good," her Fear mumbled.

"Not good?" said her Anger. "That was a total disaster, and so out of character for her."

"Yes," her Sadness agreed, "that wasn't like our Riley at all. What is wrong with her?"

Her Disgust crossed her arms. "Hormones must be flying."

Her Joy looked at the others. "Girls, I think it's time for a mother-daughter talk. Let's give her a few minutes to calm down, and then go up there."

The others nodded in agreement.

Back in Riley's head, I.B. was thrilled with this latest interaction with Jordan. Things couldn't have gone more smoothly if he had planned them himself.

"Oh, that's right, I did," he chuckled.

As Riley stormed into her room and threw herself on the bed, I.B. began fooling around with the controls again. "Don't worry, my dearest. That mean old Jordan isn't good enough for you. Let me remind you again what a  _real_  boyfriend should be like."

" _I would die for Riley!"_

He smiled up at the memory that played across the screen. As the scene flashed through Riley's mind, she let out a loud sigh of resolve.

That's when it happened. The idea of breaking up took hold. The broken heart-shaped light bulb sank into the control panel as Riley accepted the idea.

I.B.'s face lit up. "Alright! Now we're talking! All that's left to do now is make it official. After we kick Jordan out of our life once and for all, it will be smooth sailing." He leaned back in his seat, putting his feet up on the control panel and placing his hands behind his head. "Then it'll be just me and Riley, together forever."

Smirking, he glanced at the control pad. His smile quickly shifted to a frown as the entire consul started turning black. He leapt away from it in surprise, afraid he had accidentally hit something with his foot as the shadow slowly spread from one side of the control pad to the other.

"Wait, what is this?"

He grabbed the controls as he began pressing buttons and pulling levers. To his surprise, nothing happened, the controls remained unresponsive. No feelings got through to Riley, and no thoughts or memories other than the ones that were currently going through her mind came forth.

"What is going on?" he wondered out loud, still flipping switches and turning knobs.

Giving up, he rushed across the room and snatched up the Never-Miss Stick and began whacking it against the control panel as if it were a defective wash machine. This accomplished nothing as the shadow continued to spread.

"Why isn't anything working?" he demanded, tossing the golden hockey stick on the ground. "She needs to feel  _something._ " He glanced at the light bulb embedded in the controls as the blackness crept along. "Is it this? Did this idea do something?"

He grabbed the light bulb and tried to pull it out, but it didn't budge. He wasn't too concerned about that; he still needed it until Riley actually broke up with Jordan. But the control pad, he  _had_  to have access to it. Not just for his own plans, but for Riley's sake, in order for her to feel anything. Otherwise she would just run on autopilot, not feeling anything.

What do I do?" he cried, beginning to feel desperate.

There was no answer to be had as the black shadow completely consumed the control pad.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Down in Heartquarters, an alarm was sounding. Heart Workers ran around frantically, trying to find the problem. Both Love and Hate were covering their ears to block out the alarm, the latter looking as if he wanted to commit murder.

"I hate that stupid alarm!" he snarled. "What's the problem?"

"Hold on, I can't hear you!" Love replied as she worked the control panel. "I'm trying to find the problem!"

An image came up on screen, which quickly identifying the issue. Both Love and Hate ran outside to find the giant heart beginning to deflate. The generator that powered the machine to keep the heart inflated was smoking and sending sparks flying as a few nuts and bolts fell lose and a crack appeared on its side.

"It's her heart!" Love yelled, "it's breaking!"

"I can see that, you idiot! It's just like what happened two years ago when Riley tried to run away from home! Looks like that I.B. fellow really screwed things up!"

Love had to agree. The way Riley reacted when Jordan stopped by was not like her. I.B. must have still been manipulating the controls, the Emotions had failed to get back into Headquarters. Now Riley's heart was breaking. If they didn't get it fixed, she would remain depressed. Hopefully the damage wasn't too extensive, or else it could take a very long time to repair.

At least I.B. wouldn't be able to screw around with her feelings anymore. As long as Riley's heart wasn't working, the controls up in Headquarters wouldn't work either. This would hopefully give the Emotions enough time to get back in and resume command.

"Come on, people, get to work!" Hate shouted as the Heart Workers ran towards the malfunctioning heart with tools to repair the damage. "We've got to fix this thing before it breaks down any further! Hurry up, I hate delays!"

As Hate barked orders to the repairmen, Love looked worriedly at the tube they had sent the Emotions through that led to Riley's Subconscious. "Please hurry, guys. Riley needs you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: We've got trouble. Riley's heart is broken. Looks like I.B. really screwed up. But this isn't just about I.B. interfering. One of the things I really liked about the movie was how the internal things went hand in hand with the outer things. For example, Riley's unhappiness and mood swings from the move are incorporated with not having Joy and Sadness in Headquarters, as well as not having her Islands of Personality working. Likewise, I.B.'s interference incorporates with the problems most couples face when they get into relationships for the first time, like first arguments, jealousy, uncertainty, misunderstandings, unrealistic expectations, etc. On a happier note, it looks like Bing Bong is back, at least for a while. Hopefully his plan will get the Emotions back into Headquarters, and Love and Hate will be able to repair Riley's broken heart.)


	15. Headache

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Ok, so, funny story. I was really struggling to come up with a title for this chapter, but was coming up with nothing. A couple days ago, I got a really bad headache, and it came to me, the perfect title. Kind of funny where we get inspiration sometimes. So, here's the next installment. We're getting close to the end. A lot of things that have happened over the course of the story are coming to a conclusion here. I hope you like it.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Chapter 14: Headache**

A loud rumble shook the land. The Emotions turned to the source and watched as Romance Island crumbled. The entire structure collapsed as the ground cracked apart all around it, and pieces of the Island fell away. The only thing they could do was look on in horror as the entire Island broke apart and dropped into the Memory Dump.

Joy took a few steps forward. "No…" she whispered in despair. "We lost Romance Island."

Anger cleared his throat. "Hey, Joy, I know this is a tragedy, but… can we get a move on here?!"

Knowing he was right, she took a deep breath. "It's fine. Once we plug the Core Memory back in, the Island will come back."

She turned to her fellow Emotions. Each of them was on a cloud they had obtained from Cloud Town within Imagination Land. Upon climbing onto them, each Emotions' cloud began to react differently. Sadness' cloud had begun to rain, Fear's had begun to snow, Disgusts had begun to hail, and Anger's had grown dark and begun to thunder and lightning.

"Typical," Disgust had muttered at the time.

Joy didn't have a cloud. She would be riding in the rocket since she was the only other person who had rode in it before aside from Bing Bong, who, unfortunately, would not be going with them.

Hurrying over to the others, she hopped into the imaginary rocket. Bing Bong came up next to her for one last reminder. "Ok, this should take you right to Headquarters. Just make sure you keep singing."

Sadness sank into her cloud. "We're doomed."

"Think positive," Joy told her.

"Ok, I'm-"

"Positive we're doomed," the others chorused.

Bing Bong chuckled. "Don't worry, you can trust in my rocket. You'll be back up in Headquarters before you know it."

Joy suddenly couldn't take it anymore, and she threw her arms around the imaginary character. "I'm going to miss you, Bing Bong!"

Smiling sadly, he returned the hug. "I'll miss you too. All of you." A few pieces of candies fell from his eyes. "Now come on. It's time to go."

Joy nodded. "Right." She sat down and called back to the others. "Everybody ready?"

Anger grabbed the back of the rocket. "I'm ready already!"

Hesitantly, Fear wrapped his arms around him. "R-R-Ready…"

"Yeah, whatever," Disgust grumbled, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Lets do this."

"Hold on," said Sadness. She placed her hands on the green Emotions hips. "Ok, I'm good."

Joy smiled. "Alright, everyone start singing!"

Altogether, and quite out of tune, the Emotions began to sing.  _"Who's your friend who likes to play? Bing Bong, Bing Bong! His rocket makes you yell 'Hooray'! Bing Bong, Bing Bong! Who's the best in every way, and wants to sing this song to say, Bing Bong, Bing Bong!"_

Streams of rainbow burst from the back of brooms on the rocket, passing by on either side of the red, purple, green, and blue Emotions. The rocket took off, dragging them with it as Joy sat in the seat.

It sped along, going up the makeshift ramp and soaring out over the Memory Dump, heading for Headquarters. Bing Bong waved to them as they got closer and closer to home, the dark abyss of the Dump stretching out beneath them.

Joy was singing with everything she had, but couldn't help giving a report.  _"Who's your friend who likes to play? Bing Bong, Bing Bong!_  We're doing great, guys! Just don't look down!"

It was practically a reflex to look at something once someone tells you not to look at it. And so, practically against his will, Fear glanced down into the darkness of the Memory Dump.  _"B-B-Bing… Bo…ong…"_

He fainted again, his grip going slack. Disgust cried out as they began to fall, but Anger whirled around, grabbing the purple Emotion's hair swirl, now only holding onto the rocket by one hand as Disgust clung to Fear and Sadness to her. The rocket began spewing out less rainbow. The speed slowed down, and they began to lose altitude.

"Keep singing!" Joy shouted.

"Fear fainted!" Disgust snapped. "Of all times!"

"Just keep singing!  _Who's your friend who likes to play? Bing Bong, Bing Bong!"_

But the rocket was losing more and more power. The rainbow coming out of the back was now shooting out in small bursts rather than a continuous stream. These small bursts kept the rocket airborne, but it was slowly but surely dropping down towards the Memory Dump.

"This isn't working!" Joy cried. "We need a stronger song! Time to go with the backup plan!"

Anger's eyes widened, then he glared. "Oh, no! I'm not doing it!"

Joy looked back, giving him a pleading look. "We have to! You heard what Bing Bong said! The more prominent the song is in Riley's mind, the more power we'll get! The Bing Bong Song just doesn't have enough juice anymore! Riley needs us, now sing!"

With great reluctance, they began singing their backup song.  _"TripleDent Gum, will make you smile! TripleDent Gum, it lasts a while! TripleDent Gum, will help you, mister, to punch bad breath right in the kisser! TripleDent Gum!"_

An explosion of color burst from the back of the rocket, launching the Emotions forward so fast they broke the sound barrier. They slammed into Headquarters, smashing straight through a window, and crashing into the control room.

I.B. jumped, turning to the broken window. He looked from the shattered glass to the cloud of rainbow on the other side of the room. A lone wheel rolled over to him from whatever it was that had come crashing through. He stared at it as it came to a stop beside his foot, then glanced at what had crashed through the window.

There was as groan from within the rainbow cloud as it began to disperse. The crash had caused Fear to regain consciousness, and he tried to gather his bearings. "What happened?"

I.B.'s eyes widened in disbelief. "I don't believe it."

"Believe it," Anger snarled, punching his open palm. "We're back, and we're going to give you such a beating."

"Cool your jets, Anger," Joy told him. She fixed I.B. with a glare. "It's all over, I.B. Your days in command are at an end."

An arrogant smirk crept up his face. "So you think that just because you made it back here that I'd surrender? I've come too far to stop now."

Disgust rolled her eyes. "Uch, get over yourself. We're going to undo everything you did."

But the imaginary character's grin never left his face. "You might find that to be a little harder than you think."

He stepped away from the control panel, presenting the blackened consul to them. The Emotions gasped and rushed over to it. They began fiddling around with buttons and knobs, but there was no reaction.

"It just turned black and stopped working," I.B. explained as he continued to back away towards the window.

Joy recalled what Love and Hate told her. "Riley's heart must be broken. The controls won't work until it's fixed."

"Great!" Anger barked at I.B. "Look what you did, you punk!"

"Can't we do something?" Fear asked desperately. "We were able to fix it last time."

Sadness shook her head. "Last time the controls hadn't turned completely black yet. Riley's heart was breaking, but hadn't broken yet. We were able to stop what was going wrong up here before any damage was done down there. This time, we're too late."

"It'll be fine," Joy insisted. "Once Love and Hate fix her heart, we'll get control back."

Anger slammed a fist down on the control panel. "Do you have any idea how long it can take to mend a broken heart?!"

She sighed. "I know, but we don't have a choice. In the meantime, lets focus on getting things back to normal." She glanced at the breakup idea. "First, lets get this idea out of her head."

Before she could pull it out, I.B. cleared his throat. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you want to get things back to the way they were before, wouldn't you be needing these?"

He held up a familiar bag. It was the bottomless imaginary bag they had used to carry the Core Memories around two years ago. Joy had kept it as a momentum of Bing Bong.

I.B. opened the bag slightly to show that he too was using it to store the Core Memories he had removed, then moved over to the broken window and held it up, his threat obvious.

Joy slowly held up her hands. "Now, I.B., don't do anything crazy."

"Stay where you are," he told her, "or I'll drop these into the Dump, and you'll never see them again; unless you want to go jumping in after them."

Anger began grinding his teeth together, his head steaming. "Of all the rotten, cowardly, no good-"

Fear grabbed him. "Don't tick him off! He'll drop them!"

"I will," I.B. confirmed. "I swear I will. And once something goes into the Dump, it never comes out." He smirked. "Or maybe you'll get lucky again, Joy. Care to risk it?"

Disgust placed her hands on her hips and cut her eyes at him. "So, what's your plan then, brainiac? Are we just gonna stand here in standoff indefinitely? What good will that be to Riley?"

I.B. glared at her. "It's not like we can do anything anyway. The controls aren't working. We can't make Riley feel anything right now. Look."

He motioned towards the screen where Riley stared at her laptop, streaming an episode of  _Bolt_  rather than doing her homework. While she normally loved the show, right now she felt nothing, just a numbing depression as she stared at the screen, barely focusing on it.

Anger looked back at him. "And whose fault do you think that is? Everything was fine until you started interfering!"

I.B.'s glares shifted to him. "I'm not going to let you undo all my hard work. Jordan isn't good enough for Riley. No one is good enough; no one but me!"

Disgust threw her arms in the air. "Uch, you're so conceited!"

Next to her, Sadness held up her hands non-threateningly and slowly made her way over to the imaginary character. "I.B., listen to me."

He moved the bag closer to the window. "Don't try anything, Sadness. I'll drop them, I mean it."

She made no aggressive movements, but continued to inch closer and closer. "I know you do. I also know what it's like to feel useless and unwanted. For the longest time, I felt like I wasn't wanted or needed. I thought I was a useless Emotion that didn't contribute to Riley in any way. At least not in a way that's meaningful. I thought she would be better off without me. But I had a role to play. You did too. You helped Riley to find the right kind of qualities to look for in a boyfriend in order for her to have a good relationship. Someone who loves and cares for Riley very much and would do anything for her."

"Yes!" I.B. insisted. "And Jordan doesn't measure up. No one does."

"You're right," Sadness agreed. "No one can possibly live up to a perfect, imaginary fantasy. But that's because a fantasy isn't realistic. It's not reality. No one is perfect. But it does give Riley an idea of what to look for. You did your job, I.B., now you have to let her move on to something real."

A pained look crossed the imaginary character's face, but it quickly gave way to fury. "Never!"

"I.B.-"

"One more step, Sadness, and these are going out the window!"

That's when it happened. Occasionally when streaming videos online, one would come across a commercial ad. And as Riley watched her show, a very familiar one began playing.

" _TripleDent Gum, will make you smile! TripleDent Gum, it lasts a while-"_

I.B.'s head snapped towards the screen on reflex, a look of annoyance crossing his face. "Seriously?!" he thundered.

Joy made her move while he was distracted. She grabbed the golden Never-Miss Stick I.B. had rested against the control panel, the one that never missed the shot the wielder intended to take.

Lying on the floor in front of her was the wheel that had broken off of Bing Bong's rocket. Using it as a hockey puck, she hit it with all her might, knowing that her shot would be made.

The wheel flew through the air, striking I.B. in the head. He stumbled back, going right out the window, taking the bag of Core Memories with him.

"No!" Sadness cried, lunging forward.

She grabbed hold of one of the bag's straps, but was pulled out of the window as well. She managed to grab hold of the window frame, keeping hold of the bag. The broken glass dug into her hand, but she held on as she and I.B. hung over the abyss of the Memory Dump, the latter clinging to the bag containing the Core Memories.

Wincing against the pain in her hand, the blue Emotion held on as tightly as she could, but she was not that strong, and quickly lost her grip.

Joy's hand closed over Sadness', nearly pulling her out the window as well. Anger, Fear, and Disgust quickly grabbed her waist and legs before she went out. They tired to pull the yellow and blue Emotions back in as Sadness hung on to the bag of Core Memories, but it was difficult with I.B. weighing them down.

"Hold on!" Joy called. "We'll pull you up!"

"Hurry," the blue Emotion pleaded. "I don't know how much longer I can hold on."

A whimper escaped Fear. "It's hopeless! We're all going to fall into the Dump!"

"Will you shut up and pull!" Anger snapped, his head igniting.

The three of them slowly pulled Joy inside, who in turn pulled Sadness and I.B. But as they pulled, a loud  _rip_  was heard. The bag holding the Core Memories was starting to tear open, the precious glowing orbs at risk of falling out.

Sadness gasped. "Wait, stop! The bag is ripping!"

The Emotions froze, yet the bag ripped further as both Sadness and I.B. pulled it in two different directions.

Despite the situation, I.B. couldn't help but smile as he saw that the Core Memory that powered the late Romance Island was about to drop into the Memory Dump.

"Looks like Riley and Jordan won't be making up after all!" he called up to the Emotions. "Not once that memory falls!"

Sadness glanced at the bag. The rip wasn't big enough for the Core Memory to fall out yet, but if it got any bigger, Romantic Love would be the first to go.

With sad eyes, she looked at the imaginary character that had used and discarded her, who she once believed cared about her before betraying her and crushing her heart. "Why are you doing this, I.B.? Can't you see you're hurting Riley? Her relationship is a mess, we lost Romance Island, her heart is broken, the controls aren't working, and now we're about to lose her Core Memories."

I.B. glared at her. "It's for the best. I have Riley's best interest at heart."

"Why can't you just let her go?"

"I can't let her go!" he insisted. "I would die for Riley! I'm the only one who can make her happy!"

"Then why is she more miserable now than ever?"

Her words echoed all around him, and they seemed to strike a chord in him. His aggressive expression melted away, and he began looking around. He saw the powered down Islands of Teenage Boy Band, Tragic Vampire Romance, and Friendship, as well as the place collapsed Romance Island once was. Then he looked up at the broken window of Headquarters as Anger, Fear, and Disgust tried to prevent Joy from falling out as she clung desperately to Sadness.

Finally, his gaze drifted to the bag of Core Memories. Through the rip, he saw the Core Memory for Romantic Love. The scene was of Riley and Jordan on a date together, laughing and having fun. Looking at the two of them like that, I.B. realized that since he had taken over, Riley had never once shown this type of happiness, not even when he had sent feelings of joy through her.

It was a crushing revelation, and he turned away, unable to look at the happy scene any longer. But the sound of the rip getting bigger once again drew his attention. One last tear, and the Core Memories would be lost.

He looked down, into the blackness of the Dump, then slowly up again. He locked eyes with Sadness, a determine look on his face.

Somehow, Sadness understood what was about to happen, and her eyes widened. "I.B.?"

He held her gaze and whispered, "For Riley."

Then he let go, falling from Headquarters and disappearing into the darkness of the Memory Dump.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Who saw that coming? I.B. sacrificed himself for Riley. He said he would die for her, and he meant it. I.B. may have been a villain, but he was a tragic villain. His motives were based on the pain of neglect and wanting to be with the person he loved rather than malice or greed. But in the end, Riley's happiness was what mattered to him the most, and Sadness finally allowed him to see that he wasn't making Riley happy. It's one of the hardest things you can do, but if you love someone, sometimes you have to let them go. By the way, having the 'TripleDent Gum' song play so many times wasn't just for comedic purposes, it was also meant to annoy I.B. enough to become a distraction, allowing Joy to get the upper hand on him. But it's not over yet. I.B. may be gone, but Sadness and the Core Memories are at risk of falling, Riley's heart is still broken, the controls aren't working, and her relationship with Jordan is a mess. There's still a lot to do. Lets hope Love and Hate can finish the repairs quickly before it's too late for Riley and Jordan's relationship.)


	16. Mother Knows Best

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Seems that a lot of you guys were glad to see I.B. go. I was hoping to have people be able to sympathize with him, but I guess I made his character a little too bad for that. Well, he's gone either way. Now there's a big mess to clean up. Hopefully the Emotions can repair the damage I.B. caused.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Chapter 15: Mother Knows Best**

"I.B., no!" Sadness shouted, but it was too late, he was already gone. She couldn't believe it. Why would he do that? He'd just threatened to throw the Core Memories into the Dump less than a minute ago. Why would he suddenly sacrifice himself to save them?

The answer had been in his final words.  _"For Riley."_

Had a part of him truly believed that everything he had done had truly been for Riley's benefit? Had it really been more than mere jealousy from a lost and forgotten imaginary character?

They would never know.

"Hey!" Disgust called. "What's going on down there?"

Sadness struggled to find her voice. "I.B.'s gone…"

"What?"

"I.B.'s gone," she said louder. "He fell into the Memory Dump."

"Good riddance," Anger snapped. "Now work with us here."

Without the extra weight, they were able to pull Joy and Sadness through the window. Once inside, they collapsed on the floor in relief and exhaustion.

Finally, after several long moments, Disgust spoke. "Well, this whole adventure may have been the worst experience of my life. Sadness, you've got horrible taste in men."

The blue Emotion was deep in thought, still contemplating I.B.'s actions. "He sacrificed himself. He decided to let go rather than let the memories fall in. But why?"

"Who cares?" Anger snapped. "Just don't go breaking the rules anymore. No more boyfriends allowed in Headquarters."

"Boyfriends!" Joy exclaimed, jumping up. "Jordan! We've got to fix things with Jordan!"

She snatched the bag of Core Memories I.B. had removed and quickly went to open the capsule where they were meant to be. She plugged them back in, and the Islands began functioning again. Upon reinserting the Romantic Love Core Memory, the collapsed Island of Romance was made anew, and the Emotions breathed sighs of relief.

Next they turned their attention to the blackened controls. They tried a few buttons and such, but to no avail.

"It not working," said Joy. "Until they fix things in Heartquarters, we've got no control."

Anger's gaze landed on the breakup idea plugged into the control panel. "It's this idea that's causing her heartbreak. We've got to get it out."

He grabbed the light bulb and pulled, but it didn't budge. He struggled with it for a few moments before throwing his hands in the air. "It's not coming out! It's just like two years ago!"

Disgust looked at the blue Emotion beside her. "Then we need Sadness. She was the only one that was able to remove that other idea when it wouldn't come out."

The blue Emotion looked uncertain. "Oh, well, ok…"

She walked up to the control panel and tried to remove the idea. It didn't budge.

Fear's hands slapped against his cheeks. "Oh, no! We can't get it out! What are we going to do?"

Sadness stared at the idea for a bit before turning to the others. "It's because for ideas like this one, the right Emotion is needed to get them out of her head. Last time, she needed to feel sad about the idea when she tried to run away. This time, she needs something else."

She motioned to the wall of memories for the day. "Riley only took the idea to breakup with Jordan because I.B. made her feel sad, angry, and disgusted when she was with him and thinking about him. So those feelings won't get the idea out of her head." She looked at the purple Emotion. "Neither will being afraid. She needs to remember how good it felt to be with Jordan, how happy she was. She needs to feel joy to get this idea out of her head."

They all looked at the yellow Emotion. Joy blinked. She supposed what Sadness said made sense. It was similar to the running away incident. "Well, ok, I'll give it a shot."

She stepped forward, hoping and praying this worked. If it didn't work, she didn't know what they were going to do. Would they need to wait for the repairs to her heart be finished? But this idea was the reason her heart broke in the first place.

Taking a deep breath, she placed her hand on the idea, and pulled.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Down in Heartquarters, the Heart Workers worked furiously at the generator, trying to repair the damage done to her heart. But whatever was happening up in Headquarters was affecting things down here. If it didn't stop, then they'd never be able to make the repairs since the generator kept breaking down because of it. They wouldn't be able to get Riley's heart working, and she would remain depressed indefinitely.

"Come on, hurry up," Hate snapped. "Riley's depressed. I hate it when Riley's depressed!"

"We're doing the best we can," a Heart Worker told him. "But once we fix one problem, another one occurs. We can't fix things if the same problem keeps occurring over and over again. Quite frankly, I'm getting tired of making the same repairs so much."

Hate shoved the Heart Worker. "It's your job to make repairs. So make them!"

"It takes time to mend a broken heart," another Heart Worker told him. "It'd be easier if those in Headquarters could stop the cause."

Love was anxiously pacing back and forth. "They can't, not until they get rid of I.B."

"Forget I.B.," Hate growled, kicking one of the Heart Workers' tools. "As long as Riley's heart is down, the controls won't work, and Riley will remain depressed. AH! What a mess!"

Placing a calming hand on his shoulder, Love gave him a reassuring smile. "It's ok. Have faith. We all love Riley. Love will find a way."

Hate glared at her. "Was that a pun? You know I hate puns. And how can I have faith in those five idiots? They couldn't even get out of here without our help. You tell me, how are we supposed to have faith in them?"

"Got it!" a Heart Worker declared. "The repairs are complete. It looks like they stopped whatever was causing the heartbreak."

Hate stared dumbfounded as the generator began functioning again. The giant heart balloon began to inflate once more, and soon grew to its full size once again.

A big smile crept up the pink Emotion's face as she gave Hate knowing look. "See. I hate to tell you I told you so…"

Hate scoffed. "Yeah right. You love it."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Joy held the idea in her hand. Sadness was right; it had come out when she tried. Not wanting it anywhere near her, she threw the light bulb across the room.

"Nicely done," said Fear, "but the controls still aren't working. They started working again that time Sadness pulled out the idea to run away from home."

"I told you," said Sadness. "Riley's heart hadn't completely broken then. Not like this time. We need to give Love and Hate time to fix her heart."

"Great," Anger grumbled, pulling up a chair. "Nothing for us to do but sit down and wait."

He over exaggeratingly sat down and crossed his arms, staring at the controls. The others looked on as well, watching, waiting, wondering how much longer Riley would suffer.

They didn't know how long they waited. Minutes, maybe hours? But, finally, the blackness that had spread through the controls vanished.

"They did it!" Joy exclaimed. She pressed a test button, and smiled when she got a reaction. "All systems are working! Ok, people, we got a lot of work to do, so lets get busy."

"I'll say," Anger grumbled as he and the others took their places at the controls. "Thanks to I.B., we've got our work cut out for us."

"Yes," said Joy. "Lets deal with Jordan first. I think we should recall all the good times."

She pressed a few buttons, and several hundred yellow memories of Riley and Jordan's time together poured out of the recall tube.

"I'll get them," said Sadness, scooping up an armful. They immediately turned blue.

"Sadness, what have you done?" Fear shouted in horror.

"No, it's ok," Joy insisted, "Riley is full of unexpressed sadness right now, that's why they're turning blue. Once she allows herself to fell what she's suppressing, they'll go back to normal, just like last time."

"Except for the ones that stay blue," Anger grumbled.

Joy winced at that. He was right though. Two years ago, certain memories had stayed sad after Sadness touched them; things that Riley had once loved and was forced to give up when she moved. She missed them now, and thinking about them made her sad.

But they couldn't worry about which memories would stay sad and which ones would change back. They had to deal with the problem at hand before it was irreversible.

If it wasn't already.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Riley laid sideways on her bed, still streaming an episode of  _Bolt_. She knew she should be doing her homework, but she just wasn't in the mood. She was depressed, very depressed. She hadn't felt like this since the time she ran away two years ago.

She thought about her relationship with Jordan, of how things took a dive. How had things gone downhill so fast? It wasn't just him not being able to come to her game. All day she'd felt… resentment towards him. She didn't know why, but that's just how she felt, had been even before he told her he couldn't come to her game.

She had no idea why, but the feeling was there all the same. And every time she saw him or thought about him, even when recalling happy memories, she had felt sad, angry, and disgusted. It was almost as if someone was telling her how she  _should_  feel rather how she actually felt. It was very confusing.

And then she had kept thinking about her imaginary boyfriend, the one she had dreamed up when fantasizing what her future boyfriend would be like, and she couldn't help comparing the two. True, Jordan was different from what she had imagined her future boyfriend would be like, but until today, she hadn't minded. Jordan was shy, sweet, caring, funny, reliable, or at least he had been until he told her he had to blow off her game.

That was where her resentment seemed to center around. She understood the situation, but for some reason, she couldn't seem to accept that. It was so unlike her.

That was when a little voice in the back of her head began telling her that she should break up with Jordan and hold out for someone better, someone more like the imaginary boyfriend she had fantasized about. And if there was no one like that, then there was no one worthy of her.

But she didn't want to break up with him. She liked being with Jordan. She wanted to be with him. She liked how he was different from the imaginary boyfriend she had thought she wanted.

Yet that small voice had been persistent, and every time thoughts of Jordan popped into her head, she would grow angry, sad, or disgusted while thinking of her imaginary boyfriend made her happy.

Her thoughts and feelings began to wear her down, but when she actually considered breaking up with him, she suddenly became depressed. Which was how she now found herself staring at the computer screen, not really watching, as Bolt tried to rescue his owner, Penny, from the evil Dr. Calico.

Yet as the minutes ticked by, she felt her depression lessen as more thoughts of her and Jordan together began floating through her head. And unlike the entire day, she found herself smiling as she thought about them.

Some memories brought tears to her eyes as she thought back on these happy times and how there would no longer be any more of them if they really did breakup. And unlike before, these emotions felt  _real_ , not forced, and they caused more tears to spill down her cheeks.

There was a knock at her door, and Mrs. Anderson stuck her head in. "Hey, sweetie. Everything ok?"

Riley quickly wiped away her tears before facing her mother, but was unable to hide her puffy red eyes. "Hey, Mom. I'm fine. Just taking a break from my homework."

A knowing smile grazed her mother's face. "A break, huh? Well, breaks are good. Maybe I'll take one with you." She moved to sit on the bed, giving her daughter time to say something if she wanted to. She didn't. "So, how are things?"

Riley diverted her eyes and gave a small shrug. "Ok, I guess…"

"Mmm hmm," Mrs. Anderson muttered skeptically. "And how are things with Jordan?" Another shrug, and no response this time. "He certainly left in a hurry. Is everything alright?"

"She's probing us," Anger growled. "Does she have to do this right now?"

"Wait, this is good," Joy assured him. "We could use some help. Some motherly advice could do us some good. Lets open up a bit."

A third shrug. "I don't know. Things are complicated right now."

Mrs. Anderson raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

Disgust pointed at the screen. "She's going to try and interfere in our love life," she complained.

"It's fine," Joy insisted. "We can confide in her some of the concerns I.B. stirred up."

Sighing, Riley turned to her mother. "Jordan can't come to my semi-finals game. One of his band mates scheduled a gig on the same day, and they can't reschedule."

A look of understanding crossed her mother's face. "Oh, I see. I'm sorry, sweetie. I'm sure that's disappointing."

Riley scowled a bit. "How could he? He'd rather play with his friends than be there for me."

Her mother put an arm around her. "Now, Riley, that's not really fair. I'm sure he would be there for you if he could. He has a responsibility and a commitment to his band mates, just like you do to your teammates. We all have to prioritize the things in our lives."

"Yeah," Riley agreed, "and he chose his friends over me."

Her mother disagreed. "No, I don't think so. I think what it came down to was who needed him more. He wanted to be there for you, Riley, and you want him to be there, but his friends  _need_  him to be there for them, otherwise they can't play."

Riley looked away. "I know that. I guess I always did. But it's still disappointing. I really wanted him to be there. Shouldn't he be there for me whenever I need him? If he's not willing to do that, should we even be together?"

"Darn I.B. for putting that in her head," Anger growled. "It's not that black and white."

Mrs. Anderson sighed. "Riley, being in a relationship isn't all sunshine and rainbows. There will be times when you have to compromise and make sacrifices. You'll face disappointments and hardships, but that's life. Not everything will always work out the way you want. There will be disagreements and arguments. You'll have good times and bad times, but the bad ones make the good ones that much more precious and meaningful. As long as you love each other and want to be together, you can get through them if you try, no matter what problems come your way, even if you don't agree with each other. Is it worth throwing away all the good times because of a few bad? Isn't the fact that you're so upset about Jordan not coming to your game proof of how much you care for him?"

She looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "You know, there are times when your father and I fight. Sometimes we drive each other completely crazy, but we work through our problems and move on." She placed a hand on Riley's shoulder. "It's just like when you and I argue, or you and your father. Don't we always get over it?"

Leaning down, she placed a kiss on her daughter's head. "I know this is your first real fight with Jordan, sweetie, but it's natural to fight and have disagreements occasionally. Some couples actually enjoy arguing with each other."

Riley raised an eyebrow. "They do? Why?"

Her mother shrugged. "Different reasons. Some fight just because they enjoy making up afterwards." Her hand went to her mouth, as if she thought she had said too much. This apparently went over Riley's head as her mother continued. "The point is, we're all human, Riley. We all have our flaws. Your father has many, and I'm sure he thinks I do too." She nudged her. "Though nowhere near as many as him. But we still love each other regardless, flaws and all. It's actually our flaws that make us perfect. And even though there are times I wish your father were different, the truth is, I wouldn't change a single thing about him, even if I could. I love him just the way he is."

For several long seconds, or maybe several minutes, Riley stared at her mother as she absorbed all this. Her head suddenly felt much clearer, as if a fog had lifted, and she realized that she didn't want to breakup with Jordan. She never wanted to breakup with him, not even when the idea had occurred to her and she had actually begun to consider it. She didn't care that he was different from what she imagined her future boyfriend would be like. She loved him just the way he was.

And now she realized just how horrible she had been to him. She had been selfish, rude, and mean. That wasn't like her at all. Who had she  _been_  today? Certainly not Riley Anderson.

Wiping the remnants of the tears from her eyes, she jumped out of bed. "I'll be back, Mom. I need to go talk to Jordan."

She kissed her mother's cheek and ran out of the room. Mrs. Anderson smiled at her daughter's departure, and she wasn't the only one. Inside her head, her own Emotions leaned back, looking very proud of themselves.

"Still got it," her Sadness told the others.

"We sure do," they agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: We're coming close to the end. Only a few more chapters left. Not that everything inside Riley is "working properly" again, the damage can be repaired. I.B.'s interference with Riley's relationship is meant to be a parody of the delusions and unrealistic fantasies and expectations we sometimes have when we have our first relationship. That's one of the things I love about "Inside Out", the way they provide a "reason" for the way we feel in certain situations, because something goes 'wrong' inside us.)


	17. Make Up or Break Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: We're coming down to the end. I hope everyone has enjoyed the Emotions' little adventure. The rest of the story is pretty much going to be about Riley. Well, ok, technically I guess the whole story was about Riley, but you know what I mean. This chapter will be the turning point for her and Jordan's relationship.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Chapter 16: Make Up or Break Up**

Riley ran down the street, looking for Jordan. They hadn't spoken that long ago, and she was hoping to head him off. But no, he wasn't anywhere in sight.

"Maybe he went home," Sadness suggested. "Whenever I'm really sad, I like to just curl up in bed and cry."

"Right then!" Joy cried, inserting the idea to go to Jordan's house into the control panel. "To Jordan's house it is!"

But Jordan wasn't there. His mother said she hadn't seen him since he left the house. His sister didn't know either, but she wasn't talking to him since he was going to miss the semi-finals.

"Make a note to have Riley talk to her about that," said Joy.

Their next stop was Nathan's house. Perhaps Jordan had decided to blow off some steam by practicing with his band mates after their fight. But no, he wasn't there either, and Nathan was not happy to see her.

"He's been trying to reschedule, even  _cancel_ , our gig," the boy told her irritably. "He's turning down a chance to gain recognition and make good money just so he can go to your stupid hockey game."

Despite her hurry to find Jordan, she took the time to fix Nathan with a glare. "It's not stupid! It's the semi-finals."

Nathan scoffed. "I would have thought that seeing your favorite team play live would be more fun."

Riley blinked, not understanding. "What?"

The boy rolled his eyes. "Jordan plans to use the money he makes from the gig to buy tickets to see your favorite hockey team's next game. It's supposed to be your Christmas present. Guess the surprise is blown."

Riley was taken aback.  _That_  was why Jordan needed the money? To get hockey tickets? For her? That was why he couldn't tell her what he needed the money for; he didn't want to ruin the surprise, something Nathan had no issue doing for him.

"That is so sweet." Joy awed.

"Yeah, but jerk-face here just ruined the surprise!" Anger snarled, pounding his fist on the control pad.

"I don't even care. We'll have to make sure to act surprised when Jordan gives us the tickets." She pressed a button, but there was no reaction. She pressed it again, but still nothing. "Ah, man, Riley's in shock."

As Joy continued to try and get a reaction, Riley stared at Nathan, completely dumbfounded. "Jordan is… getting me tickets…?"

Nathan rolled his eyes. "He really cares about you, you know. So you two better hurry and make up."

He closed the door in her face. It took a few moments for her to get over her shock, but she was soon on the search again.

"We're never gonna find him!" Fear shouted in despair. "What if he was so upset over our break up that he jumped off a bridge or something?"

"Calm down, panicky," Disgust mumbled. "Jordan wouldn't do something stupid like that. Besides, Riley didn't even break up with him, they just departed badly after a fight."

"Guys, focus," Joy pleaded. "Where else could he have gone?"

She began recalling several memories, searching for a spot Jordan may have gone. When one particular memory appeared on screen, she realized how obvious it should have been.

"Of course," she muttered, sticking the idea into the control pad. "Why didn't we think to check there sooner?"

Riley's eyes widened as it occurred to her where Jordan might be. She ran until she reached the ice skating center, only to collide with Caprice and her two friends.

"Oww," the cool girl grunted as they both went down. "Watch where you're going!"

Disgust's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Oh my gosh! We just knocked down Caprice! Our social life is over!"

Riley jumped to her feet and helped her up. "I'm so sorry."

"Riley? Is that you? What's the rush?"

Riley tapped her fingers together nervously as the three girls stared at her. "Um, nothing much. I just had a big fight with my boyfriend, so now I'm going to go make up with him. Talk to you in school tomorrow. See ya."

She hurried inside before any of the three girl could say anything. They stared at the door she had disappeared through before Caprice glanced at her friends. "You know, Riley's pretty cool. We should ask her to hang out with us some time."

Inside the center, Riley headed for the ice rink where she had her hockey games. The stadium was empty except for a few people skating. Riley's eyes darted around, and they finally landed on Jordan. He was sitting in the stadium with his head down, looking at his feet. The flower he had gotten for her was still in his hands.

"I think we missed a few things," said Joy. She knew that Riley and Jordan had quarreled shortly before she and the other Emotions had retaken Headquarters, but they didn't know the details.

Sadness pointed at the screen. "We should do a quick memory recall so we know what kind of trouble I.B. caused."

"Good call," Joy agreed, pressing a few buttons, and the memory began playing.

The Emotions cringed as they watched how I.B. had forced Riley to interact with Jordan, ending with her throwing the flower back in his face and closing the door on him. As the memories played in her mind, guilt clawed at Riley's insides.

"What a creep," Disgust grumbled, referring to I.B.

"Riley would never act like that," Fear agreed.

Joy sighed. "Let's fix this."

"Approach with caution," the purple Emotion insisted.

Feeling uneasy, Riley slowly approached Jordan. With his eyes closed, he didn't seem to notice her until she cleared her throat. "Um, Jordan."

He glanced at her, and leapt back in surprise at seeing her there. It resulted in him sinking back into his seat as it folded up on him, his legs ending up beside his head.

Despite the tension, Riley couldn't help but chuckle. He really was adorable.

"R-Riley!" he croaked, quickly climbing out of the seat and standing up. "What are you doing here?"

She gave him a small smile and reached out to take the flower from him. "I could ask you the same thing."

He glanced at her extended hand, looked back up at her, then at her hand again before placing the flower in it. "I don't know. I just felt the need to come here since I can't go to your…" He trailed off and sighed. "Riley, I-"

She shushed him. "No, Jordan, don't. I was being unreasonable and selfish. I'm still upset that you can't come to the game, but I understand. I know it's not really your fault. You were stuck in a no-win situation and chose the lesser of two evils. I don't know why I said the things I said. I was wrong."

He offered her a smile. "I thought in a relationship, the girl was always right, even when she was wrong."

"Well, he got that right," said Disgust.

Riley chuckled. "Ordinarily, yes. But this time supernatural forces must have been at work." She frowned. "I really don't know what came over me. It was like I was a completely different person."

Jordan rubbed the back of his head. "It's ok. I was told this would happen. It happens to my mom every month."

He seemed to realize that he had said too much, because his hand instantly slapped against his mouth and he blushed madly. Riley stared at him in confusion, as did her Emotions.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Fear asked.

"Not sure," Joy replied. "What would his mother go through every month that would make her act like a different person?"

It suddenly clicked in Sadness' head, and her hands flew to her mouth as she gasped. "Oooh, he thinks that Riley is… well, um, you know…"

No, not at first, but they soon caught on to what she was getting at.

"Oh, no he did not!" Anger bellowed furiously, and reached for the controls.

Joy stopped him. "Wait, wait, wait. Maybe this is for the best. It's a much simpler explanation for the way she's been acting. Let's just let him think that and move on. It'll be much easier for everyone."

Riley was also blushing furiously, but she didn't correct his theory. "Y-Yeah, we girls can be crazy sometimes…"

A few awkward moments of silence passed where they were unable to meet each other's gaze.

Finally, Jordan spoke. "But I think it's worth it." He slowly looked at her again, and she at him. "I think you're really great, Riley. Even when you get crazy."

She blushed again, this time for a different reason. "Well, I think you're great too, Jordan." She recalled her mother's words. "Even when you get on my nerves. But I wouldn't change single thing about you."

He was blushing again, this time for a different reason. "I wouldn't either."

They chuckled bashfully, then fell into an awkward silence. Jordan glanced at the ice rink, then back at Riley. "You know I want to see your game. I would if I could."

She smiled sadly. "I know. Like I said, I was being unreasonable."

"I'll still be rooting for you from afar," he offered. "Not that you need it. You're team rocks. I'll take you out somewhere special to celebrate afterwards to make up for it."

Riley's eyes lit up and her smile widened as she was struck with inspiration. "Tell you what, you get me a really great Christmas present, and I'll forgive you for skipping out on my game."

Jordan beamed at that. "Deal! You'll be totally blown away."

Not letting on that she knew his intentions, she chuckled. "You really are a great boyfriend."

"And you're a great girlfriend, the best ever." He seemed to be considering something and looked over her shoulder. "Hey, what's that?"

When she turned to look, he quickly leaned forward and kissed her cheek. Riley's head snapped back towards him, her eyes wide. Her hand came up, covering the place where he kissed, a red tint filling her cheeks.

The Emotions' mouths were hanging open. "Did he just…?" Joy asked.

"He did," Disgust confirmed. "He totally did."

None of them seemed sure how to react. "What should we do now?" Anger asked. "Should she be angry that he took such liberties, or disgusted?"

"Are you kidding?" Fear shouted. "She should be terrified! Boys only want one thing, and we just started down a slippery slope to it!"

Joy gave them a stunned look. "What are you talking about? This is a  _good_  thing. It's what Riley was going for. He's finally made a real move. Here, let me drive."

Riley lowered her hand. "What was that?"

Blushing again, Jordan looked away. "S-Sorry."

"You should be," she told him. "You missed."

"I know, I just… What?"

She smiled at him. "You were a little off."

She began to lean in. Jordan's eyes widened as her face got closer. Inside his head, his own Emotions were focusing on the screen intently.

"This is it, boys!" his Joy cried. "Prepare to make first contact!"

His Fear was pulling at his hair anxiously. "Careful not to bump heads!"

Contact was established as the two teens shared their first kiss. Inside their heads, lights and explosions went off as their Emotions celebrated.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

The darkness began to clear. I.B. blinked a few times as his vision returned. He looked around in confusion, wondering where he was. The last thing he remembered was being stuck in the Memory Dump as he slowly faded away.

He certainly wasn't in the Dump now. At least he didn't think so. He was surrounded by memories though. He bent down to pick one up, watching as a scene from when Riley was only a year old played. As he watched, another memory materialized by his feet, this one showing Riley when she was 13. It must have just recently been tossed into the Dump; it couldn't have been more than a few weeks old, but clearly not that important or it wouldn't have been thrown out.

"Where am I?" he wondered out loud.

As the fog began to clear, his mouth dropped open. There were familiar things here that he had once seen in Imagination Land before the Mind Workers deemed them no longer necessary and demolished them before tossing the remains in the Dump. There was Graham Cracker Castle, and there was the Stuffed Animal Hall of Fame, and Sparkle Pony Mountain, not to mention other places, all intact. And there were even the original Islands of Personality that had collapsed two years ago.

There were people too. He recognized several imaginary characters walking around that had leapt into the Dump when the depression of being ignored and forgotten had become too much. There was a large gathering of them right now, seemingly preparing to watch a drive-in movie. One imaginary character was standing by the projector, waving around a yellow memory.

"Ok, people," they announced, "tonight we're watching Riley's imaginary adventure through the cave of lava from when she was three!"

As the imaginary characters cheered, I.B. simply stared, completely bewildered. "What is going on?"

A hand fell on his shoulder. He turned to be greeted by a fuzzy, pink, elephant-like creature. Standing beside them, with her arm locked with his, was Rainbow Unicorn.

I.B. continued to stare. "Bing Bong?"

"So you finally made it," the cotton candy imaginary character stated. "You certainly caused a lot of trouble, but at least you did the right thing in the end. That was very brave, sacrificing yourself for Riley's happiness."

He plucked Bing Bong's hand off his shoulder. "How would you know? You were forgotten years ago. Did you see a memory of what happened?"

"Oh, I got to go back for a little bit after Riley saw something that reminded her of me. It didn't last long with everything that was happening. I ended up here again when she forgot about me again after she and Jordan kissed."

I.B.'s eyes bugged out. "They kissed?!"

Bing Bong nodded. "Hey, Riley's growing up, it was bound to happen." He turned to Rainbow Unicorn and stroked under her chin with a finger. "Right, pookey."

His girlfriend giggled as I.B. tried to come to terms with this. "They kissed? You're saying all my hard work was for nothing? It can't be. I'm the only one suited for her. I would die for Riley!"

Bing Bong rolled his eyes and sighed. "Oi, join the club." He wrapped an arm around him. "Literally. I'll show you where it is."

He then half led, half dragged I.B. through many forgotten locations, finally coming to a place that had a big sign over it labeled  _CLUB RILEY_. Inside, the room was filled with Riley merchandise, from posters to figurines, and numerous other things featuring Riley. And it was filled with thousands of copes of I.B. that had once served as Joy's stepladder two years ago.

"Welcome home," Bing Bong told I.B.

All the imaginary boyfriends turned to the newcomer and declared in one proud voice, "I would die for Riley!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Well, all's well that ends well, for everyone. Now I.B. can finally be with his own kind. I wonder how he would feel if he found out that one of the reason's Jordan was going to miss her game was so he could earn money from his gig to buy Riley a Christmas present. And speaking of Riley and Jordan, they not only made up, they finally had their first kiss. Heh, how do you think her parent's Emotions would react to that? So, it looks like that's the end, right? Well, you're wrong. We've got an epilogue coming up. Since my epilogues tend to be short, I'll have it out on Friday, so look forward to it.)


	18. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Sadness is at my controls, because this story is over. It was fun, but it must end. Fortunately, I always have ideas for new stuff. But lets not get too far ahead of ourselves. This chapter is like the first chapter {the first chapter, not the prologue}, where it's told from Joy's point of view. I thought it would be a good way to wrap everything up. So here it is, the last chapter.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Epilogue**

Oh, hey, you're still here. Great! I was hoping you would be. Thanks for sticking around with us until the end. That was some craaaaazy adventure, wasn't it? Now Anger, Fear, and Disgust have some idea of what Sadness and I went through the first time we got lost. Hopefully there will be no more adventures.

So, you probably have some questions. If you're wondering how things are going with Riley and Jordan, I can tell you that they're great. Better than before even. If only we can convince Fear that Riley's not going to get pregnant every time she and Jordan kiss.

The Islands of Personality are all up and running again, including Romance Island. It even expanded a bit after everything that happened. It makes me wonder how else it's going to expand in the future as Riley and Jordan's relationship progresses.

In case you were wondering, Riley's team did manage to win the semi-finals. Not only that, they went on to win the championship. Yay! And get this, Riley even scored the winning goal! We were so proud of her.

Speaking of hockey, Jordan managed to get the tickets for the game. It was awesooooome! Riley was so stoked, she hardly had to act like she didn't know what his present was. Unfortunately, the team she was rooting for lost, but you can't win them all, and she and Jordan had a great time regardless; that's what's really important.

Now, about her social life, much to Disgust's approval, Caprice and her friends have started hanging out with Riley from time to time. She even turned them on to Jordan's band's music. One of Caprice's friends even ended up hooking up with Nathan. And ever since then, he's stopped being such a jerk to her all the time. Truthfully, I think he was actually jealous that Jordan had a girlfriend and he didn't, which is why he was always so mean to Riley all the time.

Oh, and get this, Headquarters was upgraded! We now have direct contact to Heartquarters, so we can communicate with Love and Hate now. This is apparently something everyone goes through eventually. It seems Love was right; once children get older, they start thinking with their heart as well as their head. So our team has grown. Yay!

As you can see, things are great. Riley's living a very happy and fulfilling life. The future is certainly looking bright for her. Our little Riley is growing up, and we couldn't be prouder. Good things are definitely coming our way. After all, Riley will be turning 14 soon. What could happen?

**THE END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: What could happen indeed? Did I leave it open for a sequel? Yes. Do I have plans to make one…? Sadly, no. Fresh out of ideas for "Inside Out". For now anyway. But I may come up with something in the future. I do, however, have an idea for a "Zootopia" story that I'm brainstorming. The problem is that it's not the only story I have an idea for. Right now I've got five story ideas, and I'm trying to figure out which one I should do next. Let me tell you, it's hard to decide what story to write, let alone write it at all when you've got so many ideas running through you're head. I'm leaning towards a "Batman/Justice League/Teen Titans" story since I seemed to have gotten sucked into the DC Comics universe and it's currently dominating my mind. I guess we'll have to wait and see. In the mean time, here's your last opportunity to review. I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say. Hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing. Later.)


End file.
